Israeli official and expert questioned the effectiveness of Pfizer’s vaccine

The coronavirus vaccine Pfizer was embroiled in controversy following a study by the government of Israel on its effectiveness. Nachman Ash, the government official responsible for designing the pandemic strategy, reported that the first dose of the vaccine offers less protection against COVID-19 than what the American pharmaceutical company had initially indicated and warned against the new strains of the virus.

Ash questioned the efficacy of the vaccine during discussions between health ministry officials ahead of Tuesday’s cabinet meeting over the possibility of extending the nationwide lockdown, army radio reported.

As he detailed, many people got infected between the first and second dose of Pfizer vaccine, and it appears that the protection offered by the first dose is “less effective than previously thoughtData on the protective effect against the virus from the first dose is “less than what Pfizer presented,” the official said.

Israel denies vaccine killed man who injected dose of Pfizer

Israel, the country that has vaccinated the most

In Israel, more than 2 million people have received their first dose of Pfizer, and so far more than 400,000 have received the second. With 32 vaccinated per 100 inhabitants, it is the country that has vaccinated the most against the coronavirus in the world.

However, according to the Ministry of Health, more than 12,400 patients have tested positive for the coronavirus after being vaccinated. This figure includes 69 people who received the second dose.

According to the agency ALLPfizer says its vaccine, produced with BioNTech, is about 52% effective after the first dose and increases to about 95% within days of the second dose.

Last week Sharon Alroy-Preis, head of the public health department at the Department of Health, announced that the vaccine slows infections by 50 percent about 14 days after the first of two injections. He said the data was preliminary and was based on the results of coronavirus tests in those who received the vaccine and those who did not, which serve as a de facto control group.

Benjamin Netanyahu shows confidence in Pfizer vaccine in Israel

Doubts about the vaccine

During his conversations with health officials on Tuesday, Ash also said that It was uncertain whether the vaccine could protect against variants of the coronavirus.

With one month on from the start of Israel’s vaccination campaign, health ministry officials expected to see a decrease in daily infections and severe cases, but there is no such trend at the moment . The most contagious variants of the virus, especially the British strain, are accused of having difficulty reducing disease rates and easing the heavy burden on hospitals, despite shutdowns and mass vaccinations.

Speaking to ministers at Tuesday’s so-called coronavirus cabinet meeting, Ash said health officials estimate the UK variant of the coronavirus causes 30-40% of current infections and will become the dominant strain in Israel. within weeks, according to Hebrew media. The mutated strain of the virus is more infectious, although it is not considered more deadly.

Ash recommended extending the national lockdown for two weeks until February 4, saying that basic breeding numbers, a key indicator of virus transmission, were declining, but that it would still take days for the full effect of the shutdown to be felt.

AB / FF