Data released by Israel’s Ministry of Health and one of its top health-care provides indicate that the COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer is proving to be highly effective in providing immunity from the virus.
According to the Ministry of Health, a total of 317 out of 715,425 Israelis who were fully vaccinated (at least a week after receiving both doses) contracted the virus, with only just 16 coming down with serious cases in need of hospitalization.
At the same time, Maccabi Healthcare Services—one of the four health providers in Israel—reported that only 31 out of the 163,000 Israelis vaccinated by them caught the coronavirus after 10 days of receiving the second dose, which is when full immunity is expected.
In the control group of unvaccinated Israelis during the same period, some 6,437 were diagnosed with COVID-19.
“This is very, very good news,” Anat Ekka Zohar, Maccabi’s top vaccine statistics analyst, told The Times of Israel. “It is the first study in the world that looks at such a large number of fully vaccinated patients.”
The data from Israel is the first real-world look into the effectiveness of the coronavirus vaccine. Israel has been one of the leading countries in vaccinations per capita.
During its clinical trials, Pfizer achieved 95 percent efficacy, and medical professionals from around the world had been looking to Israel to see the results of the vaccine so far.
