Data: Vax best way to stay alive

A new analysis confirms vaccination is the single best way to slash the odds of dying from Covid-19 — with those who’d received one or no doses facing a risk about two-thirds higher.

But the Ministry of Health’s justreleased report also showed what modellers and epidemiologists have long warned: Covid-19’s disproportionate danger to Ma¯ori, Pacific and those who live in poorer areas.

Public Health Agency deputy director general Dr Andrew Old said that, thanks to low levels of infection early in the pandemic and one of the world’s highest vaccination rates, New Zealand had seen comparatively fewer Covid-19 deaths.

Modellers estimate as much as two-thirds of the population have been exposed to the virus this year. Most had mild-to-moderate illness they could manage at home.

“But sadly, despite that, more than

2000 people have died from Covid-19, either as an underlying or contributing cause, and we remain committed to ensuring those most at risk of death from Covid-19 are prioritised in our response,” Old said.

That total — of which 1289 deaths occurred with Covid-19 being officially coded as the underlying cause — was around six times higher than last year’s road toll.

Covering nearly 1800 Covidattributed deaths recorded over the year to August 26, the report showed a higher risk among people who were older, unvaccinated, were Ma¯ori or Pasifika, lived in poorer areas, or had pre-existing health conditions.

While age was the single biggest determinant of risk of death — most mortalities have been recorded among Kiwis over 80 — vaccination also appeared to bring big benefits.

The analysis showed a 62 per cent fall in risk of death among those who’d had two or more doses — and there was evidence, which future studies would explore, that boosting lowered that danger even more.

But it also found how the burden of Covid-19 had fallen unevenly.

While the risks of death were much lower for all groups under 60, Ma¯ori and Pasifika were, respectively, 3.7 and 2.9 times more likely to die than other under-60s.

Of the 78 people under 60 who died from Covid-19, 35 were European and other, 24 were Ma¯ori, 13 were Pacific, and six were Asian.

Similarly, the report found the most deprived 20 per cent of Kiwis faced three times the risk when compared with the least deprived 20 per cent, with 429 virus-attributed deaths among the former group and

153 among the latter.