TEL AVIV – A single Covid-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE is 85% effective in preventing symptomatic disease 15 to 28 days after administration, an Israeli study found, a development that could help guide vaccine decision makers worldwide.
Some governments are debating whether to delay the second shot of the recommended two-dose regimen to take full advantage of the reduced amount of vaccines.
The Israeli study, conducted by the government-owned Sheba Medical Center and published on Friday, also found a 75% reduction in all symptomatic or asymptomatic Covid-19 infections after the first blow. The study evaluated by colleagues was published in the British medical journal Lancet as correspondence, which means that it represents the views of the authors and not the journal.
The data used were collected on the 9,109 health care employees of the center, who started their vaccination process starting with December 19th.
“This is the first study to evaluate the effectiveness of a single dose of real-life vaccine and show early efficacy, even before the second dose,” said Prof. Eyal Leshem, director of the Center for Travel Medicine and tropical diseases of Sheba and one of the authors of the study.