TEL AVIV – The latest data from Israel shows a 94% decrease in symptomatic Covid-19 infections in 600,000 people who received two doses of Pfizer Inc. vaccine. and BioNTech SE, offering important new perspectives to other countries as they launch their own campaigns.
The vaccinated group was also 92% less likely to develop severe illness due to the disease, according to a study by Clalit, Israel’s largest healthcare provider. Clalit compared 600,000 people who received photos with a group of the same size that did not – in what was the largest vaccine study in the country to date.
Clalit said the study, which was conducted with a team at Harvard University, included 430,000 people between the ages of 16 and 59 and 170,000 who were 60 or older. It was the first of its kind to show such a high level of efficacy for the Pfizer vaccine for those aged 70 and over, due to the limited scope of clinical trials, according to the healthcare provider.
The study was conducted so that each vaccinated individual was tested against an unvaccinated person who had a similar profile, including the level of risk of infection, the level of risk of developing serious diseases and general health.
“It is now unequivocal that the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine is incredibly effective in real life one week after the second dose, as found in the clinical trial,” said Ran Balicer, Clalit’s director of innovation and one of the study’s authors. , in a Jewish statement published Sunday with the study. The vaccine is even more effective two weeks after the second shot, he added.