Vaccination in Israel has demonstrated for the first time the effectiveness of the vaccine in practice in a country that is currently struggling with an increase in the number of people infected. Previous studies with similarly high efficacy have been clinical. Therefore, it was not entirely clear how high the efficiency would be when deployed in a real environment.
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“We were surprised because we expected that in a real environment where the vaccine transport chain is not optimally kept cold, and where the population is scarier and sicker, you will not get as good results as in controlled clinical trials,” study co-author Ran Balicer told the agency. Reuters. “But we got them and the vaccine works just as well in the real world,” he added.
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“We have shown that the vaccine is equally effective in different groups of people, young and old, with no comorbidities or little comorbidities,” Balicer added. It turned out that the effectiveness is so high even in seniors who have a weaker immune system.
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Effective against the British mutation
The study also suggests that the vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech is also effective against the British coronavirus mutation. Although the report did not indicate exact efficacy in protecting against covid caused by this mutation, this variant was already prevalent in Israel at the time of vaccination. However, the study does not show how effective it is against the South African mutation.
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At the same time, the first dose of this vaccine has been shown to protect 57 percent from the possibility of symptomatic covid-19 after two weeks. The study was carried out by the Klalit research institute at the Israeli health insurance company of the same name, which operates its own hospitals. The vaccine was given to 600,000 people, compared to 600,000 unvaccinated.
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In Israel, with a population of nine million, widespread vaccination began on 19 December. Almost half of the population received the first dose, both a third.
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Israel is the world leader in coronavirus vaccination. Before other countries, he secured a higher amount of vaccine from Pfizer, which he undertook to provide back analytical data on the effects of the product through his advanced healthcare system. There is also speculation that he paid extra for the vaccines.
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The Harvard Chan School of Public Health, the Harvard Department of Medicine, and Boston Children’s Hospital were also involved in the study.
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