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Research shows that Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine, which injects more than half a million people, is “very effective” in preventing severe cases or death, even after just a single dose.
Researchers from the Clalit Research Institute and Ben-Gurion University in Israel, and Harvard University in the US, announced on February 24 that the results were based on a study that compared nearly 600,000 16-year-old Israelis or more who were vaccinated in December or January. with almost 600,000 people of the same age, sex and health status not vaccinated. None of the participants had had Covid-19.
The results show that efficacy in smaller and more limited trials has been maintained as the vaccine is used more widely in the population, with different ages and health conditions. The vaccine was 92% effective in preventing severe cases after two injections and 62% after one injection.
The estimated efficacy in preventing death is 72%, 2-3 weeks after the first injection, a rate that may improve as immunity increases over time. The efficacy of the vaccine in people over 70 years of age is similar to that in young people.
A pharmacist prepared a syringe with Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine at an injection site in New York, USA, on February 18. Picture: AP.
The vaccine is estimated to be 57% effective in preventing any Covid-19 symptoms two to three weeks after the first injection and 94% after the second injection about a week. The efficacy in preventing hospitalization was 74% after one injection and 87% after two injections, 46% and 92% respectively in preventing viral infection.
“It’s very comforting. It’s better than I thought,” said Dr. Gregory Poland of Mayo Hospital in Minnesota, USA. Dr. Buddy Creech of Vanderbilt University, USA, agrees: ” Even after an injection, we can see very high efficacy in preventing death. “
Both doctors do not play any role in the recently published research, but they are involved in the invention of other Covid-19 vaccines. According to them, the new results could prompt consideration of postponing the second injection, as the UK is trying to give an injection instead of the French one, to reduce pressure due to limited supplies.
“I’d rather 100 million people give one dose than 50 million people give two doses,” Creech said. “I felt great after an injection” in the Israel results, published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The vaccine, made by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech, is given in two injections, three weeks apart, in most countries. The decline in infections offers hope that the vaccine can limit the spread of the virus, but this study cannot determine if that is the case. There were 41 deaths related to Covid-19, of which 32 were not vaccinated.
Overall, the actual test results were good compared to a 95% efficiency in the limited test, prompting US regulators to allow emergency use of the vaccine, Poland said. He added that the big question once asked was how much benefit from an injection, “and now there is some data” that helps inform the debate.
“Perhaps the right thing here to protect the majority of people is to give everyone a dose as soon as possible. I think it’s a good strategy to consider,” Poland said.
Israel has now vaccinated almost half the population. A newer variant of nCoV was first identified in the UK that became the dominant strain in Israel during the study, so the results also provide insight into the efficacy of the vaccine against this variation.
Earlier this week, two studies in the UK showed that the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines were effective immediately after an injection. You are putting off your second injection until 12 weeks after the first to provide a level of safety for many.
Flee him (Follow, continue AP)
