TEL AVIV – The Povizer Covid-19 Vaccine Inc.
and BioNTech SE are equally effective in all age groups, including those over 60, according to a new Israeli study, to boost global vaccine efforts.
A week after the second admission of a recommended two-dose treatment, the Pfizer vaccine has about 94% protection against coronavirus symptoms in all age groups older than 16, according to a study by researchers at the Israeli Clalit Research Institute and Harvard University. The study also found that the vaccine is 92% effective in preventing serious diseases.
The results are consistent with the vaccine’s own clinical trial, but the large scope of the study, which covered nearly 1.2 million people, provides, according to the study’s authors, a more accurate insight into older age groups that are sparse the drug manufacturer was treated. .
The peer-reviewed study, parts of which were previously reported, was published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Wednesday.
Israel is the only country that has started vaccinating in relatively large numbers with all age groups older than 16, as part of its campaign to vaccinate a majority of its nine million population by March.
The rate of vaccination of Israel and the technologically advanced healthcare system have made it possible for researchers to collect real data on the vaccine – from efficacy to side effects – and give them an unprecedented view of the vaccine’s effect in different age groups. . The results provide important new insights for other countries as they set up their own programs.
Researchers from this study were able to look at data from about 1.2 million people and two decades of health records. Since the study was observational in nature, the researchers worked to reduce any biases between the vaccinated versus unvaccinated group that could lead to better outcomes, such as better health habits.
To do this, they linked each vaccinated individual to a person who had not been vaccinated, who had a similar profile, including their risk level for infection, the risk level for developing serious diseases, and general health.
This study provides ‘scientifically validated evidence from the real world of the efficacy of the vaccine’, said prof. Ran Balicer, Clalit’s head of innovation and one of the lead authors of the study, said.
Israel is the world leader in the global vaccination battle. More than half of its population received the first shot, including 90% of those over 60, and according to the Israeli Ministry of Health, about a third of the country has been fully vaccinated. After Israel launched health workers and the elderly on December 20, Israel opened it to everyone over the age of 16 earlier this month.
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The findings of the Clalit study were similar to recent research from the UK and from other Israeli researchers that only one Pfizer shot can provide strong protection.
One dose of Pfizer’s vaccine was found to be 57% effective in preventing symptomatic Covid-19 and 62% effective in preventing serious illness 14 to 20 days after the first dose. Pfizer’s own clinical study also found that one dose is 57% effective in preventing symptomatic Covid-19.
The authors of the study said that the vaccine is also very effective for those with one to two existing health conditions. But they said more tests would be needed to understand how effective the vaccine is for those with three or more pre-existing conditions.
The Israeli study included more than 110,000 people over the age of 70, and more than 40,000 people over the age of 80. In both cases, the study showed that their protection was equal to any younger age group.
Most countries launched their vaccination programs by first focusing on the elderly, but at the time, they did not have enough information about their effectiveness in supporting the move. According to Mr. Balicer did not have a fine insight into Pfizer’s original clinical trial due to its small scale in adults aged 70 years or older.
The large size of the Israeli data pool has enabled researchers to look closely at each age group.
Israel paid a premium for the vaccine and agreed to share related data for early delivery from Pfizer. It has also placed orders with other vaccine companies, including Moderna. Inc.
and AstraZeneca PLC.
The aggressive vaccination campaign paved the way for the reopening of the country. In recent months, Israel has suffered some of the world’s worst per capita infection rates, as many barricades and more recently a British variant of the disease have been booming.
On Saturday night, Israel began issuing so-called green passports with which vaccinated people could enter gyms, concerts and hotels. The passes will be used later at restaurants and bars when it reopens in the coming weeks.
—Jared Hopkins in New York contributed to this article.
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