Singapore: 72% of Deaths from Covid-19 in 1H2022 Were Fully Vaccinated

- Singapore: 72% of Deaths from Covid-19 in 1H2022 Were Fully Vaccinated
by LOW YOUJIN, https://www.todayonline.com/
Singapore reports almost 2,500 more deaths than usual during pandemic, majority directly due to Covid-19: MOH
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SINGAPORE — Singapore reported 2,490 “excess deaths” during the Covid-19 pandemic, with three-fifths directly attributed to the disease while the rest were due to illnesses that were aggravated by the coronavirus.
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These figures were released by the Ministry of Health (MOH) on Sunday (Sept 18) in a public report on mortality over the course of the pandemic — from January 2020 to June this year.
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Excess deaths refer to the increased death rate experienced during the pandemic, above that expected in the absence of one. MOH said in a press release that with the Covid-19 situation stabilising, it has consolidated the data to review the full impact the pandemic had on Singapore.
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Singapore has one of the lowest Covid-19 death rates in the world and it has kept fatalities low due to the country’s collective effort, and high Covid-19 vaccination and booster coverage, the ministry said. “Nevertheless, the mortality trends up to June 2022 show that there were increased deaths during the Covid-19 pandemic,” said MOH.
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For instance, over the course of the pandemic, the age-standardised death rate in Singapore residents rose from 525.0 in 2019 to 549.9 per 100,000 person-years. The age-standardised death rate is defined as the number of deaths in a given age group.
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MOH said that although this figure is close to the level seen in 2018, it also translates to an estimated 2,490 excess deaths over the two-and-a-half-year period, using the pre-Covid year of 2019 as a baseline. Close to three-fifths of the excess deaths could be directly attributed to Covid-19. Singapore’s official Covid-19 death toll was 1,403 residents as at the end of June this year, said the ministry.
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“The remainder of the excess deaths can be explained by patients who passed away from other illnesses within 90 days after being infected with Covid-19,” said MOH. “In other words, Covid-19 aggravated existing illnesses, resulting in death.”
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The ministry added that among Covid-19 deaths, there was an over-representation of people who had not been fully vaccinated. They made up 28 per cent of Covid-19 deaths occurring in the first half of this year, even though only about 5 per cent of the eligible population had not been fully vaccinated as of mid-March.
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