An Israeli health worker from Maccabi Healthcare Services is preparing to administer a dose of the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine on February 24, 2021 in Tel Aviv.
Jack Guez | AFP | Getty Images
Data from Israel, which has vaccinated the vast majority of its large population with the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine, suggests that mass vaccines have prevented people from suffering from serious illnesses, according to a new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. of Diseases.
Although clinical trials have found that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is 95% effective in preventing Covid-19, Israeli data provide an early insight into the vaccine’s effectiveness in a real, uncontrolled environment.
The study, which was published Friday in the CDC’s weekly morbidity and mortality report, found that among the most vaccinated part of the Israeli population, the percentage of patients in need of ventilation fell sharply. which suggests a reduction in serious diseases.
“Taken together, these results suggest reduced rates of severe COVID-19 after vaccination,” wrote researchers from Ben Gurion University in the Negev, Tel Aviv University and Maccabi Health Services.
Israel launched its national vaccination campaign in December, prioritizing people aged 60 and over, health workers and people with comorbid conditions. In February, according to the researchers, 84% of the population aged 70 or older had been fully immunized with the Pfizer-BioNTech two-shot vaccine. The researchers said only 10% of the population under the age of 50 had been vaccinated at the same time.
The researchers compared the number of Covid-19 patients aged 70 and over who needed a mechanical ventilator with those under the age of 50 who needed a ventilator. The researchers said they used the need for a ventilator, a medical instrument used to help patients breathe, to measure severe Covid-19.
Between October and February, the number of patients aged 70 years or older who needed a ventilator decreased. At the same time, it increased the number of people under the age of 50, a population that was generally not vaccinated, who needed a ventilator, according to the study. The country began administering shootings to mostly elderly people on December 20, with a second round of shootings after three weeks later.
The researchers noted some limitations of the study. Israel implemented a strict national order to stay home on January 8, weeks after the start of the vaccination campaign, which could have led to a decline in seriously ill patients who would have needed ventilators. The introduction of new variants of the coronavirus could also have affected the data, they said.
The researchers said their findings are preliminary, “important evidence of the effectiveness of vaccines in preventing severe cases of COVID-19 nationwide in Israel.”
“Receiving COVID-19 vaccines by eligible individuals can help limit the spread of the disease and potentially reduce the occurrence of serious diseases,” they wrote.