Israel: Pfizer vaccine 94% effective against COVID-19 symptoms
Study of 1.2 million Israelis is thought to be the biggest yet in evaluating how well the vaccine works in the real world.
Israeli Health Services Clalit has published its first research on the efficacy of the Covid-19 vaccinations and their influence on preventing infection and morbidity.
Clalit’s researchers in cooperation with a team from Harvard University, analyzed said with high certainty that the efficacy against severe coronavirus from a week after the second Pfizer dose was between 91% and 99%.
The survey compared 600,000 people who’d received both doses to 600,000 who were unvaccinated. 430,000 of them were aged between 16-59. 170,000 were 60+.
Each group was carefully matched in terms of health conditions, age, level of risk for serious infection.
Clalit chief innovation office and head of the Research Institute Prof. Ran Balicer said, “Together with our colleagues at Harvard University, we have conducted a series of tests to validate the results and we have found in an unequivocal way that Pfizer’s vaccination against Covid-19 is most effective in real life, a week after the second dose, exactly as the clinical research found.”
Prof. Balicer added, “Moreover, the trend we identify tracking after additional weeks after the second dose significantly increases the efficacy measured of the vaccination. In fact, in terms of more than 14 days and more after the second dose, in initial tests, we identify even higher efficacy in preventing symptomatic disease and severe illness among those vaccinated for every age. We will soon be able to also provide a precise assessment on this matter, using the same method, and we expect efficacy data that will be even higher.”
He tweeted on Sunday when the study was released: “We need to turn the spotlight now on the young age group, aged 40-60, who have not yet been vaccinated. These are about 500,000 people, 27% of their peers, who do not always perceive themselves as a population at risk but are now 31% of the [Covid patients on] respirators. One in 30 people at this age who becomes infected will be hospitalized with a serious illness. Go get vaccinated!”
Read more about: Coronavirus, Coronavirus Vaccine, COVID-19, Pandemics, Vaccine
