The study finds that the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine reduces transmission after a 1 dose

A single dose of COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer and BioNtech could significantly reduce the risk of virus transmission, according to a UK study.

The researchers analyzed the results of thousands of COVID-19 tests performed each week as part of hospital staffing tests in Cambridge, England.

Mike Weekes, an infectious disease specialist in the Cambridge University Department of Medicine who led the study, said: “This is great news: the Pfizer vaccine not only provides protection against SARS-CoV-2 disease. , but also helps prevent infection, reducing the potential for transmission of the virus to others.

“But we must remember that the vaccine does not provide complete protection for everyone.”

The study also found that a single dose of the shot reduces the number of asymptomatic infections.

“Our findings show a dramatic reduction in the rate of positive screening tests among asymptomatic health workers after a single dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine,” said Nick Jones, an infectious disease specialist at University Hospital of Cambridge, another co-leader of the study. .

After separating the test results from unvaccinated and vaccinated staff, the Jones team found that 0.80% of the tests of unvaccinated health workers were positive.

This was compared with 0.37% of tests performed by staff less than 12 days after vaccination, when the protective effect of the vaccine has not yet been fully established, and 0.20% of tests performed by staff at 12 days or more after vaccination.

The study and its results have not yet been independently reviewed by other scientists, but were published online Friday.

This suggests a four-fold reduction in the risk of asymptomatic COVID-19 infection among health workers vaccinated for more than 12 days and 75% protection, Weekes said.

The level of asymptomatic infection was also halved in those vaccinated for less than 12 days, he said.

Britain has deployed vaccines with both the Pfizer COVID-19 and an AstraZeneca shot since late December 2020. The United States uses the Pfizer-BioNTech shot and a Moderna Inc. shot. in their vaccination program.

Key real-world data released Wednesday from Israel, which carried out one of the world’s fastest launches of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine, showed that two doses of Pfizer’s shot reduced symptomatic cases of COVID -19 in 94% in all age groups and serious illnesses almost as much.