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LONDON (Reuters) – Vaccination campaign in Scotland appears to dramatically reduce the risk of hospitalization for COVID-19, suggesting Pfizer-BioNtech and Oxford-AstraZeneca injections are very effective in preventing serious infections, results have shown of a preliminary study Monday.
The results of the study, which covered the entire Scottish population of 5.4 million people, showed that by the fourth week after the initial dose, Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines reduced the risk of hospitalization up to at 85% and 94% respectively.
“These results are very encouraging and have given us good reason to be optimistic about the future,” said Aziz Sheikh, professor at the Usher Institute at the University of Edinburgh who co-led the study.
Sheikh warned during a press briefing that the results are preliminary data, which has not yet been reviewed by independent scientists, but added: “I am very encouraged. We now have national evidence … that vaccination offers protection against hospitalizations related to COVID-19. “
He said he expected other countries using the same two vaccines and a similar strategy – like England and Wales for example – to see a similar positive impact by reducing the number of people hospitalized for COVID-19.
Data on the effect of vaccines in Scotland was collected between December 8 and February 15. Researchers said that during this period, 1.14 million vaccines had been administered and 21% of the Scottish population had received a first dose.
In people aged 80 and over – one of the highest risk groups for COVID-19 – vaccination was associated with an 81% reduction in the risk of hospitalization in the fourth week, when the results of the two vaccines were combined.
Jim McMenamin, COVID-19 incident director at Public Health Scotland, said the results are particularly important “as we move from expectations to strong evidence of vaccine benefits”.
(Reporting by Kate Kelland, editing by Mark Heinrich)
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