'One of the greatest achievements of medical science': Vaccines saved almost 20,000 lives in NSW during early Omicron wave, new study claims
The study said that, without vaccines, 21,250 people aged over 50 would have died from the virus in the state over those 12 months — almost six times the actual 3495 deaths in that age group. "The rapid development of safe and effective vaccines for COVID-19 is perhaps one of the greatest achievements of medical science," Paul Griffin, director of infectious diseases at Mater Health Services, who wasn't involved in the study, said."Given the COVID-19 vaccines, like most vaccines in fact, are not 'perfect' in that they do have some limitations including not completely preventing infection in all recipients, and not unexpectedly they have been responsible for some adverse events, many have been critical of them.
