Only 31 out of 163,000 fully vaccinated Israeli caught virus, indicating Pfizer shots living up to expectations; expert: Results ‘well within expected standard deviation’
By JDN
Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine is showing 92 percent effectiveness in Israel, according to the world’s first big controlled investigation on how it works outside of clinical tests.
Only 31 out of 163,000 Israelis vaccinated by Maccabi Healthcare Services caught coronavirus in their first 10 days of full-strength protection. In an equivalent sample of unvaccinated Israelis, some 6,437 were diagnosed in the same timeframe.
Pfizer achieved 95% efficacy in clinical trials, and doctors worldwide are looking to Israel with bated breath to see whether the vaccine comes close to that figure in real-world use.
Full protection is believed to kick in a week after the second shot, so Maccabi’s data covers all of its members who are between seven and 16 days after receiving it.
Israel’s other health providers have yet to present data with a control group, meaning that while the Health Ministry released data on the whole nation on Thursday, it didn’t help build a picture of effectiveness levels.
The Health Ministry reported that there have been 317 infections among 715,425 vaccinees, a rate of 0.044%, or about double the infection rate seen among Maccabi members. However, Maccabi members tend to come from a higher socioeconomic background and live in areas with low infection levels.
