Photographer: Kobi Wolf / Bloomberg
Photographer: Kobi Wolf / Bloomberg
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According to the country’s second-largest health network, Israel’s leading global campaign to vaccinate its citizens is starting to rein in the disease.
Maccabi Health Services studied a sample of 50,777 people over 60 who were vaccinated in late December and then in mid-January. Raw data showed that two days after the second shot, the number of new infections and hospitalizations were both about 60% lower than their peak, researchers reported.
Trends started to shift about two weeks after the first dose, according to the analysis that Maccabi’s KSM Research and Innovation Center did in collaboration with Israeli computer health researcher KI Institute.
Shot shift
Israeli analysis shows that the Pfizer vaccine reduces positive virus cases
Source: Maccabi Research and Innovation Center
A separate Israeli study of health professionals who received two doses of the Pfizer Inc. injection found elevated levels of antibodies that matched or exceeded the clinical results in nearly every participant.
Pfizer Shot’s Israeli Study Finds High Levels of Antibodies (1)
Israel has been using Pfizer’s vaccine largely since it began its immunization campaign in early December, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s offer data about the campaign to accelerate and expand shipments. The country follows Pfizer guidelines for a second injection about three weeks after the first, reserving second doses.
Read more: Election pressure in Israel helps speed up vaccination process
So far, about 2.5 million people, or more than a quarter of the population, have received a first dose, and nearly a million more have received the second. About 30% of the country’s 9.3 million residents make up about 30% of children under the age of 16 who are not allowed to use the vaccine.
The country is currently in the middle of a third lockdown that began in late December to contain a flare-up in the outbreak. In all, Israel has had nearly 600,000 cases and more than 4,360 deaths.
More than 63 million shots given: Covid-19 Vaccine Tracker