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Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE’s coronavirus vaccine is effective in blocking the disease, and vaccinated people showed ‘dramatically lower’ infection rates, a new study finds.
Researchers from the companies, who partnered with Israel’s Health Ministry, said Thursday that COVID-19 was perfect for preventing symptomatic cases, hospitalizations and deaths.
Additionally, the jab was 94 percent effective in preventing asymptomatic cases, meaning that inoculation can dramatically reduce transmission.
Those who weren’t vaccinated were 44 times more likely to develop symptomatic COVID-19 and 29 times more likely to die from the disease, the researchers also found.
The results are in line with the 95 percent efficacy that Pfizer and BioNTech reported from their late-stage clinical trial in December that led to emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The latest analysis had the researchers measure the results two weeks after the second dose, suggesting that although there is high efficacy after the initial dose, protection increases once both doses are given.
The Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE coronavirus vaccine prevented 97% of symptomatic cases, hospitalizations, and deaths. In the photo: a health worker shows a vial of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-1 vaccine), in San José, Costa Rica, on February 24
It was also 94% effective in blocking asymptomatic cases of infection, suggesting that jab may reduce transmission. In the US, an average of 2 million people are vaccinated every day.
Unvaccinated people were 44 times more likely to develop symptomatic COVID-19 and 29 times more likely to die from the disease. In the US, nearly 19% have received at least one dose
“This clearly demonstrates the power of the Covid-19 vaccine to combat this virus,” Yeheskel Levy, director of the Ministry of Health, said in a statement.
“Our goal is to achieve even greater acceptance in people of all ages, which gives us hope to regain normal economic and social function in the not too distant future.”
The study was conducted from data collected between January 17 and March 6, 2021, when the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was the only vaccine available in Israel.
The study findings have not yet been peer-reviewed, but the researchers plan to submit the data to a scientific journal.
At the time, the UK variant of the coronavirus, known as B.1.1.7, had also become the dominant strain in the Middle Eastern country, with more than 80 percent of samples tested at the time linked to the variant.
However, the analysis was unable to assess the effectiveness of the vaccine against the South African variant due to the few cases linked to the strain in Israel at the time.
Since vaccines began rolling out in December 2020, Israel has led the world in mass immunizations.
As of Thursday morning, about 55 percent of its population has received at least one dose and 43 percent have received both doses, data from the Health Ministry show.
Following the news, Pfizer shares rose 0.4 percent and BioNTech rose 2.7 percent in pre-market trading.
“ We are extremely encouraged that the real-world effectiveness data from Israel confirms the high efficacy demonstrated in our phase III clinical trial and shows the significant impact of the vaccine in preventing serious illness and deaths due to COVID- 19, ” said Dr. Luis Jodar, Pfizer’s chief medical officer, in a statement.
“The findings suggesting that the vaccine may also provide protection against asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections are particularly significant as we seek to interrupt the spread of the virus around the world.”
It comes on the first anniversary of the World Health Organization that declared COVID-19 a global pandemic.
In the US, the virus has caused more than 29 million confirmed infections and more than 520,000 deaths.
Health officials have long stated that the best way to combat the pandemic and reduce the number of cases is by getting vaccinated.
Up to now, 62.4 million Americans (18.8 percent of the population) have received at least one dose, and 32.9 million (9.9 percent) are fully immunized.
An average of about two million people in the US get vaccinated every day.
