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Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine was 93% effective in protecting against COVID-19, a major Israeli healthcare provider said Thursday.
The results seem to show that the shot is working as hoped on a large sample of people, raising hopes that vaccine deployments around the world will be successful.
Maccabi Healthcare Services said it had immunized some 520,000 people with the required two doses of Pfizer’s vaccine.
He revealed that only 544 people subsequently contracted coronavirus seven days or more after receiving their second dose.
Fifteen people were hospitalized and four people were seriously ill, but no one died, Maccabi said, according to The Times of Israel.
Maccabi said he hit his 93% figure when comparing the vaccinated group to a large control group of unvaccinated people.
The age range of those vaccinated was not clear from the Times of Israel report. Obviously, if there weren’t as many older people – who are more vulnerable to severe COVID-19 – in the sample, the result is less significant.
“These data unequivocally prove that the vaccine is very effective and we have no doubt that it has saved the lives of many Israelis,” said Dr Miri Mizrahi Reuveni, a senior Maccabi official, according to the Times of Israel.
More than 700,000 people have been infected with COVID-19 in Israel and more than 5,000 deaths have died, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Pfizer’s vaccine has been shown to be 95% effective in protecting against symptomatic coronavirus in clinical trials. Israel is the best example to date of its real-world performance, as its vaccination campaign started early and has already reached over a quarter of its population.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has promised that the entire country will be fully immunized by March.
Israel has secured eight million doses of the Pfizer vaccine and six million pre-contracts from Moderna, paying double the tariff of European countries to ensure a reliable supply.
More than 2.3 million Israelis have been fully immunized, according to Johns Hopkins University – about 27% of its 9 million population, a number higher than anywhere else in the world.
Pfizer is monitoring the Israeli deployment on a weekly basis for information to use around the world, including whether it works against more infectious variants, Reuters reported.
So far it has been found to work against the variant first identified in the UK, but it is less clear for the variant found in South Africa.
“We have so far identified the same 90% to 95% effectiveness against the British strain,” Hezi Levi, director general of Israel’s health ministry, told Reuters. “It is too early to say anything about the South African variant.”
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