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Pfizer and Biontech say their Covid-19 vaccine is 94 percent effective in preventing asymptomatic infections, which could mean a significant reduction in transmission of the infection, world news agencies reported.
The accusation is based on real data collected during the vaccination campaign in Israel.
The two companies also said that the most recent analysis of Israeli data showed their vaccine was 97 percent effective in preventing symptomatic illness, acute illness and death.
This is essentially in line with the 95% efficacy reported since the last phase of the vaccine’s clinical trial in December.
The analysis also shows real evidence of the vaccine’s effectiveness against the highly contagious variant of Kovid-19, first discovered in the UK, known as B.1.1.7. More than 80 percent of the samples analyzed when the analysis was performed were related to the variant in question.
In Israel, a limited number of infections caused by the South African variant known as B.1.351 have been reported, so the analysis cannot assess the efficacy of the vaccine against it.
According to the analysis of unvaccinated people, the probability of symptomatic disease is 44 times higher and death 29 times higher than that of vaccinated people.
Exceeds production
Pfizer and Biontech will exceed their original goal of producing KOVID-19 vaccines by at least 20 percent this year, producing between 2.3 billion and 2.4 billion doses, Pfizer CEO Albert Burla said, quoted by Reuters.
“We will certainly exceed 2 billion doses this year,” Burla said in an interview. By the fourth quarter, companies will reach an annual production level of 3 billion doses and we should be able to produce the same next year, he added.
Burla also said the company expects to fulfill its commitment to deliver 120 million doses of its vaccine to the US government by the end of March, which means another 60 million doses will be delivered over the next three weeks.
“They have already been produced and are subject to quality control,” he said.
