"TEL AVIV -- New data from Israel shows a 94% drop in symptomatic Covid-19 infections among 600,000 people who received two doses of Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE's vaccine, offering important new insights for other countries as they roll out their own campaigns.
The vaccinated group was also 92% less likely to develop severe illness from the disease, according to a study by Clalit, Israel's largest healthcare provider. Clalit compared 600,000 people who got the shots with a group of the same size who didn't in what was Israel's largest vaccine study to date.
Clalit said the study, which was carried out with a team from Harvard University, included 430,000 people who were between 16 and 59 years of age, and 170,000 who were 60 or older. It was the first of its kind to show such a high level of efficacy for Pfizer's vaccine for those aged 70 and over, due to the limited scope of the earlier clinical trials, according to the healthcare provider.
The study was done so that each vaccinated individual was tested against an unvaccinated person who had a similar profile, including their risk level for infection, risk level of developing serious illness and overall health.
"It is now unequivocal that Pfizer's vaccine against the coronavirus is incredibly effective in real life one week after the second dose, just as was found in the clinical study," said Ran Balicer, Clalit's chief innovation officer and one of the study's authors, in a Hebrew statement published Sunday with the study. The vaccine is even more effective two weeks after the second shot, he added.
The country, which leads the world in vaccinating against Covid-19 in terms of percentage of the total population inoculated, has administered the first shot of a recommended two-dose regimen to about 42% of its roughly nine million population since beginning its program Dec. 20. About 28% of the population is fully vaccinated, Israel's health ministry says.
After beginning its vaccine campaign with healthcare workers and those over 60 years old, Israel earlier this month opened it up to everyone over 16.
Vaccinating people in Israel -- whose population is about the same as New York City's -- is relatively simple compared with the mass mobilizations needed by countries such as the U.S. that have many more people spread over a greater sweep of geography. But Israel's advanced and fully digitized healthcare system, in which every citizen by law belongs to one of four healthcare providers, has been crucial to the speed of the drive, Israeli health officials have said.
These healthcare providers have a presence in nearly every city, town and village and can mobilize patients through text messages and phone calls to go get vaccinated.
Israel encouraged people to get the shots by making it clear that those vaccinated will be granted certain privileges, such as access to museums, gyms or international travel without quarantining.
Israel aims to inoculate most of its population by March, a goal made possible after it paid a premium for early shipments from Pfizer and agreed to share data about its vaccine -- from effectiveness to side effects. It also placed orders with other vaccine companies, including Moderna Inc. and AstraZeneca PLC.
After imposing a third lockdown in December to contain a resurgence in infections, Israel in recent days has loosened restrictions somewhat. It has allowed unrestrained travel within the country, opened national parks, allowed takeaway service from restaurants and permitted larger outdoor gatherings. But most schools and businesses remain closed and nearly all international flights are banned." [1]
1. World News: Cases Drop 94% for Israelis With Vaccine --- Nation's largest study found sharp decline in symptomatic Covid in those who got the shot
Lieber, Dov. Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]16 Feb 2021: A.7.
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