An Israeli healthcare provider said Wednesday that Pfizer Inc.’s COVID-19 vaccine was 95% effective in a study of 602,000 people, consolidating the results of the drug’s effectiveness.
Maccabi Healthcare Services, which covers more than a quarter of all Israelis, said in a statement that only 608 people tested positive for COVID-19 more than a week after receiving the second of two doses of COVID-19. Pfizer.
The comparison was made against a group of 528,000 Israelis with similar backgrounds who did not receive the vaccine, Maccabi said. Of these, 20,621 gave positive results.
“Comparing the proportion of new cases between the vaccinated groups and those to be vaccinated, the effectiveness of the vaccine in Israel is currently estimated at 95%, seven or more days after receiving the second dose,” Maccabi said.
Most of the 608 infected vaccinated reported only mild symptoms, such as headaches or coughs, Maccabi said. About 21 required hospitalization, seven of whom had severe symptoms, she added.
The Maccabi data reinforce the efficacy results of Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech, which, following a late-stage study, also found that their vaccine is 95% effective.
Nearly 44% of Israel’s 9.1 million citizens received at least one shot of the Pfizer vaccine, making the country the largest real-world study of its effectiveness.
On Wednesday, Clalit, Israel’s largest healthcare provider, reported a 94% decrease in symptomatic cases of COVID-19 in 600,000 people who received both doses of Pfizer.