Excellent results for Pfizer vaccine in Israel

As someone who’s had a first and second Pfizer jab, this news is more than reassuring.

So far we’ve only been able to judge the effectiveness of vaccines in clinical trials where they showed extraordinary success. But now we have “real world” evidence from Israel, where the Pfizer vaccine is, if anything, even better than in trials.

It has cut the number of new cases by a staggering 94%! How did researchers show that?

The study took place during Israel’s third and largest wave of infection between December 20 and February 1, reports Jacqui Wise in the BMJ. More than half a million vaccinated people – 596,618 of them – were coupled with unvaccinated controls.

The second jab is given after three weeks in Israel so researchers checked results 14 to 20 days and 21 to 27 days after the first dose, and then again seven days after the second dose.

The analysis done by the Clalit Institute for Research in Ramat-Gan, Israel, revealed the vaccine reduced case numbers by 94%, hospital admissions by 87%, and severe Covid-19 by 92%.

All in all, the vaccine prevented nearly three quarters (72%) of deaths from Covid by 14-21 days after the first dose. This is very important as it is the first study to show that the Pfizer vaccine is effective against the UK variant, which is infecting up to 80% of people in Israel.

But so is the effectiveness in preventing death after only the first dose.

Tremendous news.