A large-scale Israeli study has noted the effectiveness of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to prevent symptomatic infections with coronavirus. Clalit, the largest of Israel’s four medical providers, released a study on Sunday that compared infections in 600,000 Israelis who had received the vaccine compared to 600,000 who were not vaccinated.
The study found a 94% drop in symptomatic infections and a 92% drop in severe cases of the disease among vaccinated people. He said “the effectiveness of the vaccine is maintained in all age groups,” especially a week after the second dose of the vaccine.
The researchers said the preliminary findings of the ongoing research “are aimed at highlighting to the population who have not yet been vaccinated that the vaccine is highly effective and prevents serious disease.”
Israel launched its vaccination campaign against COVID-19 in December. Since then, more than a quarter of the population (2.5 million people) have received two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and more than 42% have received the first vaccine, according to the Ministry of Health.
The 9 million-strong country, which is currently easing restrictions imposed during its third nationwide shutdown, aims to vaccinate all those over the age of 16 by the end of March.
“The publication of preliminary results at this stage aims to emphasize to the unvaccinated population that the vaccine is highly effective and prevents severe morbidity,” Clalit said Sunday.
It was added that the study covered people who had received the second shot at least seven days before it was tested and will be expanded in the future.
“With each additional week that passes, we will be able to make the assessment more accurate.”
Accuracy will improve as subjects are tested after 14 days or more from the second dose, he said.
AFP contributed to this report.