LONDON – New evidence from the UK showed that vaccinations with Covid-19 after just one dose have greatly reduced serious illness and deaths in the elderly, reinforcing optimism that successful vaccination programs this year offer a return to economic growth after a year of widespread lockdowns .
The real-world data of the country vaccinating a greater proportion of its population than any major Western economy also supports the UK government’s strategy of expanding limited vaccine supplies through a second vaccination syringe up to 12 weeks after the start of the vaccination period. postpone vaccination. first to protect more people from the disease.
British researchers said in preliminary findings published online Monday that a single dose of Covid-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE or the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca PLC reduced the risk of hospitalization in people over 70 years of age by 80% compared to people of the same age who had not been vaccinated.
The study adds to evidence from around the world that vaccines are broadly as effective in the real world as they are in clinical trials, raising hope that mass rollout could reduce the need for restrictive public health measures and pave the way for economic reopening.
“It will hopefully take us to a completely different world in the coming months,” England’s deputy chief of medical service Jonathan Van-Tam said Monday, referring to vaccination.