EYECARE: Coronavirus BRIEFING: Crisis Response Tactics Vaccines Prevented Nearly 20 Million COVID Deaths in First Year By Staff Friday, June 24, 2022 7:58 AM Vaccinations prevented nearly 20 million deaths from COVID-19 in 185 countries and territories in the first 12 months the shots were available, a mathematical modeling study calculates.The study, co-led by Oliver J. Watson, PhD, and Gregory Barnsley, MSc, with the MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis, Imperial College London in London, England, was published online Thursday in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.Researchers estimated that vaccines prevented 14.4 million deaths from COVID in the countries and territories between December 8, 2020, and December 8, 2021. Head over to WebMD to read the full story.