Research in Israel: One injection of Pfizer reduces Covid infection by 75%

The British medical journal “The Lancet” published a study conducted by the largest hospital in Israel, Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer, on 9,109 healthcare workers, of whom 7,214 were vaccinated against Covid-19 with the Pfizer vaccine. . The research supports previous studies that found the vaccine was very effective in reducing severe Covid-19 and relieving infection from two weeks after the first vaccine and justifies policies of countries delaying second doses due to vaccine shortages. Related articles Clalit: Pfizer vaccine reduces symptomatic infections 94% ABS while at work: vaccinating Israelis at work Teva CEO: We are in talks to participate in the production of the Covid-19 vaccine Israeli laboratory: The vaccine appears to interrupt the transmission of the Covid virus that after two weeks From Pfizer’s first vaccination, there has been a 75% reduction in total Covid-19 infection and an 85% reduction in asymptomatic (mild and severe) Covid-19 infections. This was compared with healthcare workers who were not vaccinated. After Pfizer’s second dose and another week, efficacy increased to 96%, similar to results from Pfizer’s clinical trial. So the research found, among other things, that there is high efficacy in preventing infection and disease after the first dose but with two reservations. The first is that “the lack of active laboratory monitoring in the group may have resulted in the reduction of asymptomatic cases.” Although according to the data, 42% of the study participants were asymptomatic patients, so the study allows a specific snapshot for this group, and the differences between them were significant. A second caveat is that “the early reductions observed in health-care workers may differ from reported vaccine efficacy in the general population due to higher risk of exposure or due to exposure to more lethal or infectious strains.” The main conclusion of the research was the high effectiveness of only one dose in preventing the virus. “Our data shows a significant early reduction in SARS-CoV-2 infections and symptomatic COVID-19 rates after the first vaccine dose is given. Early reductions in COVID-19 rates provide support to delay the second dose in countries facing vaccine shortages and scarcity of resources, so to allow population coverage. “Higher with a single dose. Longer follow-up is needed to assess the long-term efficacy of a single dose to inform a policy of delaying a second dose.” Posted by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on February 19, 2021 © Copyright Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2021