Western European countries with the lowest mortality rates related to Covid-19 were those that implemented health restrictions early and quickly vaccinated their elderly, according to a study published on Monday.
Researchers from the Pasteur Institute in France conducted the study, which appears in the journal BMC Global and Public Health. They compared 13 Western European countries between 2020 and 2022, during the peak of the Covid pandemic.
The study measured excess mortality, which refers to the number of deaths above the expected norm.
Overall, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Ireland had the best outcomes from 2020 to 2022. In contrast, Italy, Belgium, and the UK were the hardest hit.
Previous studies included more countries, but this one focused on identifying factors affecting mortality rates in developed nations with relatively similar healthcare systems.
Researchers identified two main factors: rapid vaccine deployment to vulnerable groups, especially the elderly, starting in 2021, and the early implementation of non-pharmaceutical interventions at the beginning of the pandemic in Spring 2020.
Non-pharmaceutical interventions primarily include health restrictions such as the strict lockdowns seen in early 2020.
Countries that imposed restrictions before their hospitals were overwhelmed, such as Norway, fared better early in the pandemic.
Conversely, the UK experienced the highest mortality due to delayed restrictions, while countries like France fell in the average range.
Sweden’s approach was contrasting; it implemented lighter restrictions without enforcing a full lockdown.
During the early months of the epidemic, Swedish mortality rates gradually increased, surpassing those of neighbouring Denmark and Norway. However, in late 2021 and early 2022, Denmark and Norway saw a significant rise in cases, while Sweden was less affected.
The other countries covered in the study were Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland.
