Part 3: Pfizer BioNTech Vaccinations in Israel
The pier-reviewed paper for Israel's Vaccination program just appeared in Lancet and the "real-world" effectiveness >7 days after the second dose was almost identical to the Pfizer Phase 3 study results done for the EUA. When the vaccine was obtained in Israel their goal was to vaccinate 6.5 million residents age 16 to >65 yrs. In order to determine effectiveness, assessments were made >7 days after the second dose was given and then vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals were followed with a median follow-up of 7 weeks. The study period was Jan 29 - Apr 3rd during which they vaccinated 72% of the population of Israel age 16 or older. This surveillance study was done when the UK variant B.1.1.7 was the dominant circulating strain in Israel. See Results Below
There were 109,876 infections in the unvaccinated group and 6,266 cases in the vaccinated group with a calculated effectiveness of 95%. Asymptomatic, symptomatic, hospitalized, severe or critical hospitalized, and deaths were all assessed and effectiveness in all groups was above 90%. I was especially interested in the group that was age 65+ (N=1,015,620) and the effectiveness was 94.8% (>65yrs), 95.1% (>75 years), and 94.1% (>85 years). Immunosenescence, the reduced immune response in elderly patients, is always a concern, but apparently not with this vaccine, or with the UK variant, which makes me very happy. There are many statistics in the paper, but I thought I would include only the effectiveness of preventing severe disease and deaths:
Severe Disease: Unvaccinated (3,201) Vaccinated (206) Vaccine Effectiveness 98.6%
Deaths: Unvaccinated (715) Vaccinated (71) Vaccine Effectiveness 98.5%
Please get vaccinated!!! Two more of our 8 grandchildren got vaccinated yesterday and today as part of the new 12-15 year old group. One more will be vaccinated now and the other 3 are still too young. Today's Vaccination for Callum was done under the Whale at the Museum of Natural History - no appointment needed.