PFIZER VACCINE SHOWS 95% PROTECTION IN LARGEST REAL WORLD STUDY
PARIS: The largest real-world study yet of the Pfizer-biontec vaccine on Thursday confirmed that the jab provided more than 95% protection against Covid-19, but found that the level dropped significantly when people received just one of the two prescribed doses.
The authors of the research from Israel’s national vaccination campaign said it showed real-world proof that the pandemic could be ended by rapid, global vaccination programmes.
An analysis of public health data from Israel -- one of the countries with the highest proportion of fully-vaccinated adults -- showed the vaccine was extremely effective in protecting even elderly individuals at a time when the more infectious English variant was dominant, according to the results published in the Lancet journal.
By the start of April, nearly 5 million people in Israel had received two doses of the Pfizer jab, more than 70% of the population.
The study found that two doses conveyed 95.3% protection against infection and 96.7% protection against death seven days after the second dose. After 14 days, that protection increased to 96.5% and 98%, respectively.
PARIS: The largest real-world study yet of the Pfizer-biontec vaccine on Thursday confirmed that the jab provided more than 95% protection against Covid-19, but found that the level dropped significantly when people received just one of the two prescribed doses.
The authors of the research from Israel’s national vaccination campaign said it showed real-world proof that the pandemic could be ended by rapid, global vaccination programmes.
An analysis of public health data from Israel - one of the countries with the highest proportion of fully-vaccinated adults - showed the vaccine was extremely effective in protecting even elderly individuals at a time when the more infectious English variant was dominant, according to the results published in the Lancet journal.
By the start of April, nearly 5 million people in Israel had received two doses of the Pfizer jab, more than 70% of the population. The study found that two doses conveyed 95.3% protection against infection and 96.7% protection against death seven days after the second dose. After 14 days, that protection increased to 96.5% and 98%, respectively.
But the protection was considerably lower when people received just a single vaccine dose.
Between seven and 14 days after the first dose, protection against infection was found to be 57.7%, and protection against death 77%.
The authors said that one dose may provide a shorter window of protection, especially in an environment where new viral variants emerge.