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The Pfizer and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines are extremely effective in the real world, reducing infections by 90% in fully vaccinated people, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on Monday.
CDC director Dr Rochelle Walensky called the study “extremely encouraging” during a briefing on Monday, adding that it “stressed the importance of getting the recommended two doses of the vaccine in order to get the higher level of protection against Covid-19, especially as our concerns about variants escalate. “
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The results are the first real data from the United States and are consistent with similar research conducted in other countries. An Israeli study recently found that the Pfizer vaccine was 97% effective in preventing Covid-19, including serious illness and death.
The CDC study included 3,950 people in the United States who received the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine at the height of the country’s winter wave, from mid-December to mid-March. All were essential workers, including health workers and first responders from six states: Arizona, Florida, Minnesota, Oregon, Texas and Utah.
Two weeks after participants received the recommended two doses, their risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection was reduced by 90 percent. (People are considered fully immunized two weeks after receiving their last dose.)
Even the first dose had an effect, reducing the risk of infection by 80%, according to the study.
Importantly, research has also shown that the two vaccines not only prevent people from getting sick with Covid-19, they also help prevent asymptomatic infections, in which people never develop symptoms.
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Public health officials see Covid-19 vaccines as the best way to end the worst of the pandemic, especially as a growing number of states relax restrictions and remove mask warrants.
Just over 140 million people in the United States have received at least one dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, and an additional 3 million have received the one-dose vaccine from Johnson & Johnson. More than 51 million Americans have been fully immunized.
But that leaves many Americans still vulnerable to Covid-19, and Walensky issued an urgent warning on Monday as cases are on the rise again. The average number of daily Covid-19 cases is just under 60,000, a 10% increase from the previous week. The number of hospitalizations and deaths has also increased in recent weeks, but not so dramatically.
“I want to be done so badly, I know you all want to be done so badly,” Walensky said during the briefing. “We’re almost there, but not quite yet. And so I ask you to wait a little longer to get vaccinated when you can, so that all of these people we all love are still there when this pandemic ends. .
She went on to speak frankly, “I’ll reflect on my recurring feeling of impending doom. We have so much to hope for, so much promise and potential from where we are, and so much to hope for. this moment I’m afraid. “
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