Study on covishield effect: 93 per cent reduction in Covid among fully vaccinated personnel of the Armed Forces

A LARGE-SCALE study by the armed forces to assess vaccine effectiveness has shown a nearly 93 per cent reduction in Covid breakthrough infections with Covishi-eld. The ‘VIN-WIN’ study also showed reduction in deaths by 98 per cent. This study took place when the nation was reeling from the second wave of the pandemic. Despite that and constraints of terrain and location, a fully vaccinated group of up to 82 per cent of 1.59 million showed only seven deaths, researchers said.

Published on July 27 in the peer-reviewed Medical Journal Armed Forces India by Ghosh et al, ‘The Covishield vaccine effectiveness among healthcare and frontline workers of Indian Armed Forces – VIN-WIN cohort study’ highlights the impact of protection against Covid-19 by looking at the effect on fresh infections and deaths with Covishield vaccination. Surg Vice Admiral Rajat Datta, director general, Armed Forces Medical Services, a noted cardiologist and co-author of the study, in an official statement issued on Tuesday, said, “It is possibly the largest study worldwide on Covid vaccine effectiveness, so far, and reflects the extensive teamwork between multiple specialists in Armed Forces Medical Services.”

When India launched its vaccination drive against Covid-19, among the first recipients were 1.59 million healthcare workers and frontline workers of the armed forces. They were mostly young males, who were administered the Covishield vaccine. By May 30, over 82 per cent of the armed forces population was fully vaccinated. The study was carried out on anonymised data from the existing armed forces health surveillance system that had been enhanced for monitoring Covid-19. The surveillance system contained data for daily vaccinations with first and second doses, date of a patient testing positive for Covid-19 and Covid-related deaths, all of which was analysed.

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