Breaking: First dose of Pfizer cuts infections by 75%
The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine reduced all infections from coronavirus by 75 % after only the first dose, including cases where people did not show symptoms, new research has found.
The study examined the spread of Covid-19 among Israeli healthcare workers and found the vaccine was 85% effective at preventing people developing symptoms after just one dose.
This supports the UK government’s decision to concentrate on giving first dose vaccinations and delaying giving people a second dose until 12 weeks after the first.
The findings included more than 7,000 healthcare workers from the Sheba Medical Centre in Israel – the country’s largest hospital.
Deborah Dunn-Walters, chairwoman of the British Society for Immunology Covid-19 and Immunology Taskforce said: “Due to the high percentage of the Israeli population vaccinated so far, we have been awaiting data from there to indicate the first signs of how effective Covid-19 vaccines are outside of a clinical trial setting and how dosing schedule plays into this.”
She added: “It should be noted that this study was carried out on people of working age, so it will be informative to see a similar study in older people after one dose.
Although further research is needed, overall these new findings should provide reassurance around the UK’s decision to offer the two doses of the vaccine 12 weeks apart
She added that the study shows patients develop a good level of immunity after one dose but for the best and long-lasting protection was best after two doses.
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