Latest Data Confirms High Effectivity of Pfizer Vaccine

YERUSHALAYIM
A vial of the Pfizer vaccine for COVID-19. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill, File)

The latest batch of data from the Israeli covid vaccination drive has shown the Pfizer vaccine to be 96.7 percent effective at preventing virus-related death, and 97.5% effective against serious illness.

The study was published Wednesday in the leading peer-reviewed medical journal The Lancet.

“In Israel we can see the reality of what vaccines do all around us, but this research is important in quantifying it and documenting it for others around the world to see, and understand the full benefits of vaccines,” Bar Ilan University epidemiologist Prof. Michael Edelstein told The Times of Israel.

“This puts our new reality in the form of academic research for all to see.”

Prof. Jonathan Gershoni, a vaccines expert from Tel Aviv University who was not involved in the study, told the Times: “Most important of all the statistics is that it doesn’t only reduce the infection rate but, over several months, also significantly decreases the death rate.”

Gershoni noted that the findings come at an important moment, as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expected to approve the Pfizer vaccine for 12- to 15-year-olds, a decision that Israel and other countries have been waiting for.

“Parents should realize from this that it’s an important means to protect your children,” he said.

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