New research: Prioritise surgery patients for vaccination to save lives

Patients waiting for elective surgery should get Covid vaccines ahead of the general population — potentially helping avoid deaths, according to a study in the British Journal of Surgery.

Data from a number of countries, including India, showed between 0.6% and 1.6% of patients get Covid-19 infection after surgery, and they are at between 4- and 8-fold increased risk of death in the 30 days following surgery.

Global prioritisation of pre-operative vaccination for elective patients could prevent 58,687 Covid-related deaths in one year, it found.

Source: University of Birmingham