Israel No. 1 vaccination rate, “50% reduction in infection rate after the first dose of Pfizer”

Vaccinations are taking place on the 11th at the drive-through corona vaccine in Israel.[AFP=연합뉴스]

The Israeli Ministry of Health said on the 12th (local time) that the infection rate fell to 50% 14 days after the first dose of Pfizer’s Corona 19 vaccine.

According to The Times of Israel, Sharon Alloy-Place, the head of the public health department of the Israeli Ministry of Health, said in an interview with the local broadcast channel 12, “This is the result of an initial study based on the results of the Corona 19 test between vaccination and non-vaccinated people.”

Israel began vaccinating Pfizer for the general public on the 20th of last month. Amid high interest in the actual anti-corona infection effect of the vaccine, a promising study on the efficacy after the actual vaccination in Israel came out.

Israel ranks first in the world with a vaccination rate of 22.33% relative to the population. Of the approximately 8.6 million people, more than 1.9 million were vaccinated. Given these points, the study could be the best indicator of the efficacy of the Pfizer vaccine, the Times of Israel said.

The figure that the infection rate drops to 50% after the first vaccination is similar to that of the phase 3 result. Pfizer’s Vaccine Phase III results showed that an average of 52% of the infection-preventing effects were given once the vaccine was given.

However, the announcement by the Israeli Ministry of Health is based on the results of two studies, each with different rates of infection control. Claret, Israel’s largest health care organization (HMO), announced that the infection rate had decreased by 33% 14 days after the first dose of the vaccine. On the other hand, another medical management organization, Maccabi, reported that the infection rate decreased by 60% 14 days after the first vaccination. The two agencies each vaccinated 400,000 people in Israel.

It is observed that the Israeli Ministry of Health has reported the drop in infection rates as close to the average of these two studies (50%). It is not yet clear why the two studies are different, the media said.

“However, as it is still in its infancy, there is not enough information to conclude that the vaccine completely prevents the transmission of the virus,” said Alloy-Place. “Even if the body is not infected enough to test positive (Corona 19), I think that if the virus is in the nasal cavity, it can spread the virus to others for a limited time.”

Israel has also started a second dose on the 10th. In phase 3 of the Pfizer vaccine, the infection prevention effect increased to 95% a week after the second vaccination.

Reporter Lim Sun-young [email protected]