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HomeCoronavirusIsraeli data shows Pfizer vaccine 94% effective against COVID-19

Israeli data shows Pfizer vaccine 94% effective against COVID-19

Israel’s largest healthcare provider has reported a 94% drop in symptomatic COVID-19 infections among 600,000 people who received two doses of the Pfizer’s vaccine in the country’s biggest study to date, reports Reuters. Health maintenance organisation (HMO) Clalit, which covers more than half of all Israelis, said the same group was also 92% less likely to develop severe illness from the virus.

The comparison was against a group of the same size, with matching medical histories, who had not received the vaccine.

“It shows unequivocally that Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine is extremely effective in the real world a week after the second dose, just as it was found to be in the clinical study,” said Ran Balicer, Clalit’s chief innovation officer.

He added that the data indicates the Pfizer vaccine, which was developed in partnership with Germany’s BioNTech, is even more effective two weeks or more after the second shot.

Researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science, who have been tabulating national data, said that a sharp decline in hospitalisation and serious illness identified earlier among the first age group to be vaccinated – aged 60 or older – was seen for the first time in those aged 55 and older.

Hospitalisations and serious illness were still rising in younger groups who began vaccinations weeks later.

Israel has been conducting a rapid vaccine rollout and its database offers insights into vaccine effectiveness and at what point countries might attain herd immunity.

 

Israel's mass vaccination campaign has seen 3.8m people receive a first dose, while 2.4m have also received a second shot. Medical Xpress reports that the country, which is currently easing restrictions imposed during its third nationwide lockdown, is aiming to vaccinate everyone over the age of 16 by the end of March.

"The publication of preliminary results at this stage is intended to emphasise to the unvaccinated population that the vaccine is highly effective and prevents serious morbidity," Clalit said.

It added that the study covered people who had received the second shot at least seven days before being tested, and would be expanded in future.

"With each additional week that passes, we will be able to make the assessment more accurate."

Accuracy would improve as subjects are tested after 14 days or more from the second dose, it said.

The report says Israel has so far relied on only the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, although it holds a small stock of the vaccine developed by US biotech firm Moderna.

Israel secured plentiful supplies of vaccine from Pfizer after striking a data-sharing deal with the US manufacturer. The agreement stipulates that the Jewish state, which has one of the world's most sophisticated medical data systems, will share real-time information with Pfizer on the vaccine's impact, including on progress towards herd immunity.

 

The Guardian reports, however, that although the country of 9m has launched a world-leading vaccination drive, with more than 40% having received at least one dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech jab, the recent slowdown has concerned officials.

In January, when Israel was mostly inoculating older and vulnerable people, up to 150,000 a day were given their first shots. This month, despite jabs being made available to anyone over the age of 16, that figure has often dropped to fewer than 60,000, according to health ministry statistics.

The report says it is hard to tell whether the slowdown is caused by apathy among younger populations, for whom the disease is significantly less likely to be fatal, or anti-vax sentiment. Health ministry trackers have found fake claims that the vaccine causes infertility and death.

 

[link url="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-israel-vaccine/israeli-study-finds-94-drop-in-symptomatic-covid-19-cases-with-pfizer-vaccine-idINKBN2AE0Q2"]Full Reuters report (Open access)[/link]

 

[link url="https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-02-israeli-pfizer-vaccine-percent-effective.html"]Full Medical Xpress report (Open access)[/link]

 

[link url="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/15/israel-battles-covid-misinformation-vaccination-drive-slows"]Full report in The Guardian (Open access)[/link]

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