Israeli study finds 94% drop in symptomatic COVID-19 cases with Pfizer vaccine

 

FILE PHOTO: Vials labelled "COVID-19 Coronavirus Vaccine" and a syringe are seen in front of the Pfizer logo in this illustration taken February 9, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

 

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel's largest healthcare provider on Sunday reported a 94% drop in symptomatic COVID-19 infections among 600,000 people who received two doses of the Pfizer's vaccine in the country's biggest study to date.

 

Health maintenance organization (HMO) Clalit, which covers more than half of all Israelis, said the same group was also 92% less likely to develop severe illness from the virus.

 

The comparison was against a group of the same size, with matching medical histories, who had not received the vaccine.

 

"It shows unequivocally that Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine is extremely effective in the real world a week after the second dose, just as it was found to be in the clinical study," said Ran Balicer, Clalit's chief innovation officer.

 

He added that the data indicates the Pfizer vaccine, which was developed in partnership with Germany's BioNTech, is even more effective two weeks or more after the second shot.

 

Israel's largest healthcare provider is reporting a 94% drop in symptomatic COVID-19 infections among 600,000 people who received two doses of the Pfizer's vaccine in the country's biggest study to date. Megan Revell reports.

 

Researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science, who have been tabulating national data, said on Sunday that a sharp decline in hospitalisation and serious illness identified earlier among the first age group to be vaccinated - aged 60 or older - was seen for the first time in those aged 55 and older.

 

Hospitalisations and serious illness were still rising in younger groups who began vaccinations weeks later.

 

Israel has been conducting a rapid vaccine rollout and its database offers insights into vaccine effectiveness and at what point countries might attain herd immunity.

 

(Reporting by Ari Rabinovitch and Maayan Lubell; Editing by David Goodman)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2021-02-16

 

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And furthermore, according to studies, mRNA platform-based vaccines may be more suitable to respond to more transmissible variants than adenovirus-based vector platforms.

 

In other words, Pfizer and Moderna deal better with variants such as the South African one than Astra Zeneca.

 

It will take 6 months for Astra Zeneca to come up with a booster, so it remains to be seen what happens with the local Astra Zeneca production in Thailand supposedly starting in June.

Excellent!!

Please take care... Some excellent information from the CDC. 

https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/info-by-product/clinical-considerations.html#Appendix-B

38 minutes ago, Freeduhdum said:

Please take care... Some excellent information from the CDC. 

https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/info-by-product/clinical-considerations.html#Appendix-B

Taking care for 99.99% of us means getting vaccinated. A vanishingly small number of life-threatening anaphylaxis cases is not a good reason to avoid vaccination.

Looks like a 24-hour respite on the couch with Tylenol, at least with Moderna. 

Second COVID shot Packs the Big Punch

https://www.medpagetoday.com/special-reports/exclusives/91157

Small inconvenience, especially as the vaccine appears to be successful with some of the new covid strains.

4 hours ago, Srikcir said:

Looks like a 24-hour respite on the couch with Tylenol, at least with Moderna. 

Second COVID shot Packs the Big Punch

https://www.medpagetoday.com/special-reports/exclusives/91157

Small inconvenience, especially as the vaccine appears to be successful with some of the new covid strains.

 

Thanks for the info. But it says people start to feel better after a day. And, as you pointed out, not a sensible reason to not get vaccinated.

So when are we going to get the Pfizer and Moderna  vaccine? or even the Johnson&Johnson one sounds good. They really need to focus on what they are there for and give the Thai people and us a good vaccine.

Try this:  https://www.medpagetoday.com/special-reports/exclusives/91157

 

Now I don't know who medpage is but the reporting seems balanced.

It seems there are several factors dictating how we will react to the first and second doses of the MRNA vaccines.

 

On a personal note I'll take the potential of a 24 to 48 hour flu response to the vaccine because I'm in the demographic ... that dies from the covid - 19.

 

Looking like the fragile Pfizer is the gold standard of the current crop of vaccines and in a correctly spaced double shot. I'm back to the UK in a couple of months and will just have to accept whatever I'm given but if I was in the private market I would be searching this one out if available. Feeling a bit rough after is is all par for the course - it means it's working and getting your immune system  locked and loaded !

12 minutes ago, vandeventer said:

So when are we going to get the Pfizer and Moderna  vaccine? or even the Johnson&Johnson one sounds good. They really need to focus on what they are there for and give the Thai people and us a good vaccine.

I agree about J & J.  They are running another phase  III trial with the vaccine as a two dose system that seems to be really interesting.  It seems to reach and maintain maximum antibody response about  eight weeks after the first jab.  I did note that nobody that received the J & J shot had to go to the hospital after the 28 day mark.  The testing was/is done in Britain, South Africa, Brazil and the USA.  That's taking it out for one hell of a test drive.

my god, how did they survive the last year ?

 

1 minute ago, Mike Rodik said:

my god, how did they survive the last year ?

Yeah. I'd imagine it was fairly tough on the 5,414 families who lost someone.

 Both my daughters in the UK are frontline NHS staff. They and their colleagues have all had the Moderna vaccine and none of them had days off work as a consequence. My own daughters had an ache at the injection site for less than 24 hours.

Posting false or misleading information will earn suspension. 

 

Unsubstantiated claims and no citation from a credible source are not permitted. 

 

3 hours ago, Mike Rodik said:

my god, how did they survive the last year ?

 

Israel's population is about 1/35th of the USA's. To date Israel has had a total of 5414 Covid deaths.

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/israel/

To put it into proper perspective, if you multiply that by 35 that would amount to 189,490 deaths in the USA.

A post linking to a foreign language/non-credible website has been removed, along with reply comments.

 

6 hours ago, placeholder said:

Taking care for 99.99% of us means getting vaccinated. A vanishingly small number of life-threatening anaphylaxis cases is not a good reason to avoid vaccination.

Indeed not.

 

It is also easily managed/treated in an appropriate setting.

 

The very small risk of anaphylaxis (which exists with many drugs, not  just vaccines...indeed occurs more frequently with antibiotics) is definitely not a reason to not vaccinate.

 

It does however call for some basic precautions to be observed in vaccine administration, as is being done. 

 

 

And the lab-rats sucking through a straw the rest of their lives.