Sinovac vaccine cuts COVID-19 deaths among Uruguayan adults by 95%: study

MONTEVIDEO - The COVID-19 mortality rate among Uruguayans aged 18 to 69 who were vaccinated with Sinovac vaccine fell by more than 95 percent, according to the latest Vaccine Effectiveness report from the Public Health Ministry.

Two weeks after receiving the second dose of the CoronaVac vaccine, developed by Chinese drugmaker Sinovac, mortality fell by 95.3 percent among the vaccinated population aged 18 to 49, and by 95.2 percent among those aged 50 to 69, showed the report released Tuesday.

Meanwhile, CoronaVac reduced hospitalization in intensive care units by 94.4 percent among those under the age of 49 and by 92.2 percent among people aged 50 to 69.

In addition, COVID-19 infections dropped 64.5 percent 14 days after receiving the second dose in people aged 18 to 49, and 61.5 percent in people between the ages of 50 and 69, the report said.

The ministry study monitors the "vaccine effectiveness and safety for SARS-CoV-2" by an interdisciplinary team.

So far, some 30 percent of the Uruguayan population has received both doses of a coronavirus vaccine and 56 percent has received the first dose of vaccines from Sinovac, Pfizer and AstraZeneca.

Uruguay has registered a total of 4,749 deaths from the coronavirus and 322,978 confirmed cases of infection.