"Pfizer Vaccine Shows Over 90% Immune Effectiveness in Real Vaccination Sites"

Comparison Experiment of 600,000 Vaccinated and Unvaccinated Israelis
"Similar Effectiveness in Controlled Clinical Settings, Effective Against UK Variant"

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] A study has found that Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine demonstrated an immune efficacy of over 90%, similar to clinical trials, in the vaccination campaign conducted in Israel.

According to foreign media including the AP News on the 24th (local time), a joint study by Ben-Gurion University of Israel, the Clalit Research Institute, and Harvard University in the U.S. on vaccinated and unvaccinated residents in Israel confirmed that the immune efficacy of the Pfizer vaccine was over 90%, similar to the preventive efficacy observed in clinical trials.

The researchers compared 600,000 vaccinated residents aged 16 and older who received the Pfizer vaccine with 600,000 unvaccinated residents from December last year to January this year. They found that the immune efficacy of the Pfizer vaccine was 94%, very close to the 95% efficacy reported by Pfizer in clinical trial results. The researchers also stated that the Pfizer vaccine was effective against the UK variant virus, although they did not provide specific figures. The study results were published in the international medical journal, The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), on the same day.

According to the researchers, residents who received only the first dose showed a 57% preventive effect against COVID-19 symptoms after 2 to 3 weeks, while those who received the second dose showed a 94% preventive effect against symptoms one week later. Based on confirmed diagnosis, the preventive effect was 46% for those who received only the first dose and 92% for those who completed the second dose. The preventive effect against hospitalization was 74% after the first dose and 87% after the second dose, and the preventive effect against severe disease was 62% and 92%, respectively, the researchers reported.

Ran Balicer, a professor at the Clalit Research Institute and the senior author of the study, explained, "We expected the immune efficacy to be worse than in controlled clinical settings, but we were surprised that the efficacy was similar. There was no difference in vaccine efficacy among subgroups divided by age and other disease conditions."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.