Population age as a key factor in the COVID-19 pandemic dynamics

The population and governments of many countries are losing interest in the SARS-CoV-2 infection, the number of tests and the number of new cases detected is sharply decreasing. To compare the accumulated numbers CC of cases and deaths DC per million and to answer the question why the less vaccinated Africa has accumulated 36 times lower CC values and 15 times lower DC values than Europe, simple statistical analysis have been performed. CC and DC values demonstrated rather strong correlation with the median age of populations. One-year increment in the median year yields 12-18 thousand increase in CC values and 52-83 increase in DC values. Zero-COVID countries succeed to have much lower numbers of deaths per capita and case fatality ratios DC/CC. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. ### Funding Statement The study was supported by the Solidarity Satellite Programme of Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences, Cambridge, UK ### Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Yes I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals. Yes I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Yes I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines, such as any relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material, if applicable. Yes All data produced in the present work are contained in the manuscript