COVID-19 pandemic in Podlaskie Voivodeship - analysis of infection and deaths in 2021.

Introduction: The course of COVID-19 pandemic in specific regions is affected by a variety of factors. Out of them, the one of the most significant is vaccination coverage among the population. This parameter in the first year of the vaccination program (2021), was particularly low in Podlaskie Voivodeship, compared to the whole country.

Aim Of The Study: The aim of this study is to trace the factors influencing the course of the COVID-19 pandemic in Podlaskie Voivodeship in 2021 in order to better prepare the region for possible future waves of COVID-19 infection.

Material And Methods: The paper is based on a retrospective analysis of mortality and incidence of COVID-19 in the Podlaskie Voivodeship and Polish population in 2021. The data was obtained from the ministerial platform - BASiW, and Statistics Poland (GUS). A similar analysis was also performed for the University Clinical Hospital in Białystok (later to be referred as USK), using its own patient data.

Results: COVID-19 mortality rate in 2021 was 10% higher in Podlaskie Voivodeship than in the general population of Poland. There is a slight positive correlation between this indicator and multigenerational family occurrence (i. e. proportion of households with inhabitants older than 65, which is significantly higher in Podlaskie). However, the main reason for the excess deaths was probably the lower immunization rate of Podlaskie Voivodeships inhabitants than of Poles in general - 41,6% at the beginning of autumn wave (37th week of the year) vs. 50,3%. It was also shown that the vaccine in the Podlaskie Voivodeship population is less effective in reducing the risk of infection and death from COVID-19 than in the nationwide population, but this is not due to the significant differences in Podlaskie Voivodeships health status or demographics. For unknown reasons, women of working age in Podlaskie Voivodeship turn out to be less likely to die from COVID-19 than a similar group in the entire Polish population, while men - more. In the autumn wave of cases in 2021 (the fourth wave of the pandemic in general) compared to the spring (III) wave, an increase in the mortality of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in the USK in Białystok was from 12% to 19%.

Conclusions: Considering the weakened efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine in Podlaskie Voivodeship, more emphasis should be placed on the prevention of civilisation diseases and the sanitary regime in the elderly population, so that the next waves of the pandemic do not bring excess deaths.