Study on Pfizer vaccine shows 94% drop in symptomatic COVID-19 cases

A recent study by Israel’s largest healthcare provider found that after both doses of the Pfizer vaccine, people are 94% less likely to have symptomatic COVID-19 infections and 92% fewer cases of severe illness due to the virus, Reuters reports.

Why it matters: Israel has been rapidly vaccinating its population, and the new study underscores how effective the vaccine is, as the data nearly matches Pfizer's Phase three clinical trial that showed the vaccine to be 95% effective.

Where it stands: According to Reuters, Clalit, the health system that covers most Israelis, compared 600,000 people who received both doses of the Pfizer vaccine against a same-sized group with matching medical histories who had not received the vaccine yet.

• Researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science reported a decline in hospitalization and serious illness in people aged 55 and older.
• “It shows unequivocally that Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine is extremely effective in the real world a week after the second dose, just as it was found to be in the clinical study,” said Ran Balicer, Clalit’s chief innovation officer.
• The data also indicates the Pfizer vaccine is "even more effective two weeks or more after the second shot".