THURSDAY, May 6, 2021 (HealthDay News) — Two doses of BNT162b2 are highly effective for preventing symptomatic and asymptomatic severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections and other outcomes, according to a study published online May 5 in The Lancet.
Eric J. Haas, M.D., from the Israel Ministry of Health in Jerusalem, and colleagues used national surveillance data from the first four months of a nationwide vaccination campaign to ascertain the real-world effectiveness of two doses of BNT162b2 and the nationwide public health impact of vaccination. Vaccine effectiveness against SARS-CoV-2 outcomes was calculated based on incidence rates in fully vaccinated individuals compared to unvaccinated individuals.
The researchers found that 72.1 percent of 6,538,911 people aged 16 years and older were fully vaccinated with two doses of BNT162b2 by April 3, 2021. At seven days or longer after the second dose, the adjusted estimates of vaccine effectiveness were 95.3 percent against SARS-CoV-2 infection, 91.5 percent against asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection, 97.0 percent against symptomatic COVID-19, 97.2 percent against COVID-19-related hospitalization, 97.5 percent against severe or critical COVID-19-related hospitalization, and 96.7 percent against COVID-19-related death. In all age groups, the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 outcomes declined as vaccine coverage increased. The estimated prevalence of the B.1.1.7 variant was 94.5 percent among SARS-CoV-2 infections.
“These findings suggest that high vaccine uptake can meaningfully stem the pandemic and offers hope for eventual control of the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak as vaccination programs ramp up across the rest of the world,” the authors write.
Several authors disclosed financial ties to Pfizer
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