- A study involving 1.2 million people in Israel, half of whom were fully vaccinated with the Pfizer / BioNTech drug, shows that the vaccine is very effective in preventing severe COVID-19.
- The researchers also found that the vaccine provides excellent protection against severe COVID-19, hospitalization and death – even after just one dose.
- The study was conducted in the early phase of vaccinations in Israel, during which time the B.1.1.7 mutation became dominant in the country.
Candidates for the coronavirus vaccine have been used for more than two months in various regions around the world, including North America, the European Union and Israel. More than 227.6 million people received at least one dose of vaccine on Friday morning and more than 46 million received the full two-dose regimen. Of all the countries that launched vaccination campaigns as soon as the first candidates were authorized for emergency use, Israel has made the most progress. The country has already vaccinated 53.7% of the population with at least one dose, which equates to 4.65 million people. What’s more impressive is that 37.8% of the Israeli population has already received both doses, or 3.27 million people. This gives Israel a huge edge over everyone else, and the country will likely be the first to achieve immunity from herds.
Israel’s accelerated vaccination program also allowed scientists in the country to conduct the world’s most comprehensive vaccine research to date. More than 1 million people were observed to measure the efficacy of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine in Israel, far exceeding the range of Phase 3 studies. The good news is that the conclusions were in line with Pfizer and BioNTech’s findings, which provided greater insight into the drug’s benefits. More interestingly, the study was conducted at the time when the British mutation (B.1.1.7) became dominant in Israel.
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The Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine was 92% effective in preventing serious illness after the full two-dose regimen. The researchers also measured efficacy after the first dose and found that the drug was 62% effective in preventing severe COVID-19. Likewise, a single dose was sufficient to prevent COVID-19 deaths two to three weeks after the first shot with a 72% effectiveness.
The vaccine was 57% effective in preventing COVID-19 symptoms two to three weeks after the first dose and 94% a week or more after the second dose. The phase 3 study with 30,000 volunteers showed that the drug was 95% effective.
The effectiveness in preventing hospitalization was 74% after one dose and 87% after full treatment. When it comes to preventing confirmed infections, the efficacy was 46% and 92%, respectively. The study could not determine whether the vaccine could prevent the virus from spreading, although reducing the number of infections gave researchers hope that this could be the case.
The drug worked just as well in young people as it did in people over 70, the researchers found. A total of 41 people died from COVID-19 complications, but only nine were in the vaccine group.
The Clalit Research Institute and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel collaborated with Harvard University on the study. Among them were 600,000 people over the age of 16 who were vaccinated in December and January, compared to an equal number of people who did not receive the vaccine. None of these participants had tested positive for COVID-19 before the study.
“This is very reassuring … better than I thought,” said Dr. Gregory Poland from Mayo Clinic. Associated Press“Even after one dose, we can see very high effectiveness in preventing death,” said Dr. Buddy Creech of Vanderbilt University at the news site. Neither doctor was involved in the Israeli study.
Both doctors agreed that the study provides more evidence in support of delaying the second dose so that more people can get some protection from the first shot. Some countries have already changed the vaccination protocol in early 2021. The UK has delayed the second injection for up to 12 weeks to accommodate more people. The Pfizer / BioNTech doses are expected to be administered three weeks apart, according to the Phase 3 study protocol.
Another idea for expanding the supply is to give COVID-19 survivors only one dose instead of two. France is already doing it, the report notes. At least four studies have concluded that a single dose is sufficient to bring the immune response of COVID-19 survivors to the same level as two doses.
Another big advantage of the research is that it was conducted when the B.1.1.7 variant became dominant in Israel. Therefore, the different efficacy levels observed by the researchers indicate that the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine works well against this particular strain. The study could also help tilt people undecided to get vaccinated, as one story hesitant people often quote is that phase 3 studies were limited. The lawsuit against Israel just addressed those concerns, given its broad scope.
The full study is available at this link.
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Chris Smith started writing about gadgets as a hobby and before he knew it, he shared his thoughts on tech matters with readers around the world. When not writing about gadgets, he sadly fails to stay away from them, although he desperately tries. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing.