Pfizer’s Covid jab 94% effective for 600k inoculated in Israel
JERUSALEM: Israel’s largest healthcare provider said on Sunday a study of more than half a million fully vaccinated Israelis indicated the Pfizer/BioNTech jab gave 94% protection against Covid-19.
Clalit, the largest of Israel’s four providers, released a study on Sunday that compared infections in 600,000 Israelis who had received the vaccine compared to 600,000 who were not immunised.
The study found a 94% drop in symptomatic infections and a 92% drop in serious cases of the disease among those vaccinated. It said “the efficacy of the vaccine is preserved in every age group,” particularly a week after the second dose of the vaccine.
The researchers said the preliminary findings of the ongoing research “is aimed at emphasising to the population that has yet to vaccinate that the vaccine is highly effective and prevents serious illness”.
Israel launched its Covid-19 vaccine campaign in December. Since then, over a quarter of the population — 2.5 million people — have received two doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, and over 42% have received the first shot, according to the Health Ministry.
In New Zealand, a coronavirus outbreak that sent its biggest city into a snap lockdown over the weekend involved the more transmissible UK variant, health officials confirmed on Monday, the first time the strain has been detected locally. Auckland was plunged into a new three-day lockdown on Sunday after three new Covid-19 cases were detected in the city.
Genome sequencing of two the cases - all three are immediate family - revealed they were the B1.1.7 variant. The source of the cases remains unknown.
People arriving in Britain must quarantine in hotels starting on Monday as the government tries to prevent new variants of the coronavirus derailing its fast-moving vaccination drive. People arriving in England from 33 high-risk countries must stay in quarantine hotels for 10 days at their own expense. In Scotland the rule applies to arrivals from any country.
Critics say the move comes too late, with the South African variant already circulating in the country.
Cat infected in S Korea
A pet cat has become the first animal confirmed to have contracted the coronavirus in the South Korean capital.
Seoul official Song Eun-cheol said on Monday the cat was found to have been infected the previous day, after the family that owns her were all diagnosed with the disease.