7th NCDC Report on COVID-19 in Georgia

The National Center for Disease Control and Public Health of Georgia (NCDC) published on November 4 its seventh data-rich analysis of COVID-19 spread in Georgia.

The report tracks the progress of the virus, while also sharing observations about the vaccination drive and its effectiveness, during the period from January 23 until October 1, 2021.

Civil.ge offers a quick summary of insights and findings in the report:

Infections and Fatalities

As of October 1, 614,763 persons had tested positive for Covid-19 in Georgia, 586,704 persons (95% of infected) had recovered, and 8,976 (1.46%) died of virus-related complications, recording 2,399 fatalities per million persons.

The rate of cumulative incidence – measuring disease frequency during a given period of time in the population – was 16,487.8 infected persons per 100,000, up from 9,844 reported as of July 1, and 6,145 reported by the end of 2020. The highest cumulative incidence rates were recorded in Racha Lechkhumi – Kvemo Svaneti, Tbilisi, Adjara, and Imereti regions.

For the reporting period, the total test-positivity rate – showing the ratio between who got tested for the virus and who tested positive for it – was 6.7%.

Of those who tested positive, 57% were men and 43% women. 14.8% of confirmed infections were children/teens 18 years or younger, while those 60 years or older made up 22% of all confirmed cases.

48,9% of recorded fatalities were among men and 51,1% among women, while some 85.5% of the deceased were 60 years or older (the highest portion – 18.05% – was recorded in the 80-84 age group).

The share of deceased COVID patients that had comorbidities rose from 49.5% as of July 1 to 69% of total fatalities as of October 1. Of this group, 69.1% had cardiovascular diseases (except hypertension), 35.3% – hypertension, 25.5% – diabetes, 5.8% – oncologic diseases and 4.4% – chronic lung diseases. In 74.7% of fatal cases, the disease was severed with pneumonia.

7,708 children (18 years or younger), 8,5% of those infected in this age group, had to be hospitalized, with lethal outcomes recorded in 8 cases. 7,338 pregnant women tested positive for COVID during the reporting period, while lethal outcomes were recorded in 17 cases (0.4%), 16 of them in 2021. None of the 17 deceased pregnant women were vaccinated, the report said, noting that the infection rate among fully vaccinated pregnant women is “very low.”

Vaccination Drive

Georgia rolled out vaccination against COVID-19 on March 15, 2021, and 813,437 persons were fully vaccinated as of October 1 – 28.7% of the grown-up population. 52% of jabs for fully vaccinated persons were administered in Tbilisi, while more than half (51.81%) of fully vaccinated belonged to the 18-49 age group.

Among those who received both shots, 425,493 opted for Pfizer BioNTech vaccines, 253,253 for Sinopharm, 79,100 – Sinovac, and 58,591 – AstraZeneca jabs.

According to the report, during the reporting period, there were 1,699 recorded cases (0,1%) of adverse events following immunization (AEFI), which are untoward medical occurrences that follow immunization and do not necessarily have a causal relationship with the usage of the vaccine. Of these, only 180 were marked serious. 363 of such events were reported after receiving AstraZeneca jab, 309 after Sinopharm, 892 after Pfizer BioNTech, and 135 after Sinovac.

Notably, for every 10,000 jabs administered with Pfizer BioNTech vaccine, NCDC recorded 13.6 mild and 0.4 serious AEFIs, while the same numbers stood at 8.0 and 1.3 for Sinopharm, 12.4 and 2.0 for Sinovac, and 46.1 and 3.1 for AstraZeneca shots, respectively.

6 AEFI-related lethal outcomes were recorded, in five of which no causal links with the immunization were established, while the examination of the remaining one is pending.

Vaccine Effectiveness

Relying on data available from March 15, 2021, to September 30, 2021, NCDC said fully vaccinated persons are 9.44 times less likely to get infected compared to the unvaccinated, making the vaccines 89.41% effective against infections.

The vaccines were also found to be 93.35% effective against hospitalization among those fully vaccinated, NCDC said, adding that during the reporting period, a total of 72 fully vaccinated persons ended up in the Intensive Care Units (ICU), with only 4 of them under 60.

The full vaccination was also found to be 97.81% effective against the need for intensive and critical care, while its effectiveness against fatal outcomes was estimated at 99.34% among those aged 18-59 and at 97.24% for those 60 years or older.

Georgia reported its first case of infection on February 26. To date, confirmed cases have reached 743,511, while the death toll surpassed 10,000. The number of active cases stands at 51,266. 1,044,096 people have received at least one jab of the COVID vaccine, among them 948,507 are fully vaccinated with two doses.

Also Read:

• President Calls for COVID Passports, Vaccine Mandates for Risk Groups
• Sixth NCDC Report on COVID-19 in Georgia

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