Identifying age- and sex-specific COVID-19 mortality trends over time in six countries

Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic is characterized by successive waves that each developed differently over time and through space. We aim to provide an in-depth analysis of the evolution of COVID-19 mortality during 2020 and 2021 in a selection of countries. Methods: We focus on five European countries and the United States. Using standardized and age-specific mortality rates, we address variations in COVID-19 mortality within and between countries, and demo-graphic characteristics and seasonality patterns. Results: Our results highlight periods of acceleration and deceleration in the pace of COVID-19 mortality, with substantial differences across countries. Periods of stabilization were identified during summer (es-pecially in 2020) among the European countries analyzed but not in the United States. The latter stands out as the study population with the highest COVID-19 mortality at young ages. In general, COVID-19 mortality is highest at old ages, particularly during winter. Compared with women, men have higher COVID-19 mortality rates at most ages and in most seasons. Conclusion: There is seasonality in COVID-19 mortality for both sexes at all ages, characterized by higher rates during winter. In 2021, the highest COVID-19 mortality rates continued to be observed at ages 75 + , despite vaccinations having targeted those ages specifically. (c) 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of International Society for Infectious Diseases. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )

Automated summary

This study provides an in-depth analysis of the evolution of COVID-19 mortality in selected countries during 2020 and 2021. The results show substantial variations in COVID-19 mortality rates across countries and seasons. COVID-19 mortality is highest among the elderly population, especially during winter, and men generally have higher mortality rates than women. Despite targeted vaccinations for the elderly, the mortality rates remain highest among those aged 75+ in 2021.