According to the Austrian Health Academy, more people over the age of 65 died in connection with Corona in Europe in 2021 compared to 2020, while the strictness of the measures once morest infection increased.
In Austria, mortality in this age group was slightly higher. In both years, general excess mortality was observed in all countries, with the peak in the first Corona year. Compared to pre-Covid (2016-19), it was still 6.8 percent in Germany.
Excess mortality, especially among non-Covid sufferers
“We were able to show that the corona pandemic, which has been in existence for two years, poses a health risk for non-Covid-19 patients,” say the study authors Maria M. Hofmarcher, Johannes Wüger and Ludwig Kaspar. “The vaccination significantly dampened the level of excess mortality in all countries. However, in some countries, including Austria, it was still clearly positive, both for people who were not ill with Covid-19 and for Covid-19 patients -patients, albeit at a visibly lower level than in 2020.”
“While vaccination is a ‘game changer’ in the two-year pandemic, some countries – including Austria – have the major challenge of improving pandemic management, optimizing the mix of measures and at the same time significantly expanding vaccination protection,” said the team of experts. “Keyword: Winter is coming.”
Some of the main statements of the aha study: Austria also recorded excess mortality in 2021 – especially among people who were not ill with Covid-19. The position deteriorated in an international comparison: last year the average level of excess mortality was significantly lower and no longer recognizable in some countries. The Austrian Health Academy analyzed that there was still excess mortality in Austria, both for Covid-19 and for all other deaths.
Austria ahead of Germany in excess mortality
The Covid-19 mortality in the elderly population increased slightly in 2021 compared to 2020, despite stricter measures. An increase can also be seen on average across all EU countries plus the UK, but the patterns are very different. In Austria, immunization through vaccination is “below average”. Statistically, it is shown that high vaccination coverage relieves intensive care units and reduces non-Covid-19 mortality.
With a one-time, ten percent increase in intensive care utilization by Covid patients, an average of 0.9 percent more non-Covid deaths can be expected compared to mortality between 2016 and 2019. While in Austria in 2020 the excess mortality without Covid was in seventh place among the countries considered, it moved up to fourth place in 2021, following Italy and ahead of Germany, France and Spain.
Mortality doubled in Germany
In Germany, mortality from the age of 65 doubled from a very low level in 2020 with stricter measures than in Austria. France was able to reduce mortality somewhat in 2021 with moderately stricter measures, and a noticeable decrease was achieved in Italy with a strict regime. The UK saw a slight increase in 65+ mortality combined with moderately more stringent measures. The Covid-19 death rate of the population 65+ in the Czech Republic and Poland was more than double compared to 2020. Among other things, this is likely to be due to lower immunization rates through vaccinations in those countries, the experts write.
Despite higher vaccination rates in Germany and Austria, proportionately more people in the 65+ age group died by the end of 2021 than in 2020. In both countries, the majority of Covid-19 deaths were recorded in old people’s and nursing homes.