Mortality rates among vaccinated and unvaccinated covid19 patients in Duhok hospitals, Kurdistan Region, Iraq

Abstract

Background and objectives: The corona virusvaccines are important in controlling the pandemic. In Kurdistan Region of Iraq three types of vaccines are available; Pfizer, AstraZeneca and SinoPharm. The objectiveof the study was to determine the effect of vaccine on severity and mortality rate among Covid-19 cases in Duhok, Iraq. Methods: In this Prospective study, 470 of hospitalized covid19 cases in Duhok, Iraqi Kurdistan between 1st june 2021 to 1st june 2022 were enrolled. Demographic parameters including age, sex, and past medical history of chronic diseases were taken. The severity of cases was assessed based on respiratory rate, oxygen saturation, and percentage of chest involvement by CT scan. The types and doses of vaccines received by patients were recorded. The patients were followed-up by the outcome (recovered and discharged from the hospital or dead). Results: The mean age of the patients was 64.98 years. The males were (51.49%, n=242) and females (48.51%, n=228). The majority of them did not receive any type of vaccines (81.49%, n=383). Most of the vaccinated patients received Pfizer vaccine. In term of Covid-19 severity, the study showed (65.75%, n=309) had mild-moderate disease and (34.26, n= 161) had severe disease. Moreover, the mortality rate was lower among vaccinated patients compared with unvaccinated patients 24.14% to 40.73% respectively. The study revealed that having the severe cases and being old were considered the main independent predictor of mortality among the patients (p value <0.0001). Conclusions: Vaccinated patients had lower chance of severe chest involvement, oxygen requirement and death rate compared to unvaccinated patients in our study.