‘PFIZER VACCINE EXTRAORDINARILY EFFECTIVE AGAINST UK, SA STRAIN’

Two studies show jab to be over 95% effective against S Africa and UK variants

The Pfizer-biontech coronavirus vaccine is extraordinarily effective at protecting against severe disease caused by two dangerous variants, according to two studies published Wednesday.

The studies, which are based on the real-world use of the vaccine in Qatar and Israel, suggest that the vaccine can prevent the worst outcomes — including severe pneumonia and death — caused by B.1.1.7, the variant first identified in the UK, and B.1.351, the variant first identified in South Africa.

“At this point in time we can confidently say that we can use this vaccine, even in the presence of circulating variants of concern,” said Dr Annelies Wilder-smith, an infectious disease researcher at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. One of the new studies, which appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine, is based on information about more than 200,000 people that was pulled from Qatar’s national Covid databases between February 1 and March 31.

In multiple analyses, the researchers found that the vaccine was 87 to 89.5 percent effective at preventing infection with B.1.1.7 among people who were at least two weeks past their second shot. It was 72.1 to 75 per cent effective at preventing infection with B.1.351 among those who had reached the twoweek point. Over all, it was 97.4 per cent effective at preventing any form of the coronavirus, and

100 per cent effective at preventing severe, critical or fatal disease caused by B.1.1.7 or B.1.351. (This slight difference in effectiveness is likely a result of the fact that the sample sizes were smaller for the subgroups of patients with a documented variant, Dr Abu-raddad said.)

The second new study, which was published in The Lancet, was conducted by

researchers at the Israel Ministry of Health and Pfizer. It is based on more than 230,000 infections that occurred in Israel between January 24 and April 3. During that period, B.1.1.7 accounted for nearly 95 per cent of all cases in the country, which has vaccinated over half of its population.

The researchers found that the vaccine was more than 95 per cent effective at protecting

against infection, hospitalisation and death among fully vaccinated people 16 and older. It also worked well in older adults. Among those 85 or older, the vaccine was more than 94 percent effective.

Both studies also reported that two doses of the vaccine provided significantly more protection than one dose did.