A new serological study conducted in an Israeli hospital found that 98 percent of hospital workers who received the second dose of coronavirus vaccine developed a high level of antibodies to fight the virus.
The Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, outside Tel Aviv, announced the results of the study on its website on Monday.
The 102-sample study, taken a week after Israel started administering the second dose – when the vaccine is expected to reach peak efficacy – showed that most vaccines have higher antibody counts than those recovering from COVID-19.
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The hospital said antibodies jumped six to twenty times higher a week after receiving the final dose than after the first shot.
Two tests developed only low-level antibodies, the tests of which were known to have a weakened immune system.
Dr. Gili Regev-Yochay, director of the Infectious Diseases Epidemiology Unit at Sheba, said the initial results indicated that the vaccinated people were unlikely to be carriers or contagious – a matter that scientists have not yet determined – since the antibody level was high to suppress any virus particles.
“That means the vaccine works great,” Regev-Yochay said.
The results are in line with Pfizer’s trials and go even further than expected [results]. “I expect the tests of the rest of the participating employees to be similar,” she said. “There is definitely reason for optimism.”
A medical worker prepares a COVID-19 vaccine injection at a vaccination center in Jerusalem on January 13, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel / Flash90)
Pfizer’s vaccine, developed in collaboration with German partner BioNTech, has received emergency approval from the US Food and Drug Administration and the European Union’s regulatory agency and is believed to provide up to 95% protection against COVID-19. But many remain unknown, including its long-term protection.
Israel is the world leader in indigenous vaccinations, even though the country is still in the air to curb an increase in infections.
As of Monday morning, 2,116,291 citizens had the first admission of the Pfizer vaccination, while 309,450 had both doses, according to figures from the Ministry of Health. In an increase from previous days, more than 150,000 people received a shot on Sunday.
The government has reached an agreement with Pfizer and promised to share large amounts of medical information about Israel’s vaccination campaign in exchange for more doses of the vaccine.
Proponents say the deal could enable Israel to become the first country to vaccinate most of its population, while providing valuable research that could help the rest of the world.
But critics say the deal raises major ethical concerns, including possible privacy breaches and a deepening of the global divide that enables rich countries to store vaccines, as poorer populations have to wait longer to be vaccinated.
The Ministry of Health said on Monday that the percentage of positive coronavirus tests confirmed that the previous day was 9.1%, the highest level in more than two months, before the expected extension of the nationwide exclusion, which would expire on Thursday.
The early morning test results returned on Monday showed that the positive rate rises even further to 9.4%. The last time the positive test rate was so high was on October 6, when it reached just over 10%.
There are 80,620 active virus cases in Israel and there have been 552,415 infections since the onset of the pandemic. More than 4,000 Israelis have died from COVID-19, including about 1,000 people in the past month alone.
Ministers apparently weigh a ban on all non-urgent travel from Israel and stricter quarantine rules for returning travelers.