The Ministry of Health on Friday rejected the Israeli virus secretary’s claims that the first dose of Pfizer vaccine provides less protection against COVID-19 than the U.S. pharmaceutical company had initially indicated, saying its words were quoted. out of context.
Earlier this week, Army Radio reported that Nachman Ash, in a meeting with health officials, noticed that many people were infected between Pfizer’s first and second injection and questioned the vaccine’s effectiveness after just one dose. The data on the protective effect against the first dose virus is “less than that presented by Pfizer,” he said.
Pfizer says its vaccine, made with BioNTech, is about 52% effective after the first dose and increases to about 95% a few days after the second dose.
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In a statement released on Friday, the Ministry of Health said the reports on the tsar’s comments were “out of context and inaccurate”.
“The vaccination campaign in Israel started a month ago … during an increase in morbidity and mortality in the country, which makes it difficult to assess the effectiveness of vaccination without prejudice,” said the ministry. “The initial evaluation reveals some protective effects of the vaccine and these are carefully studied by the Ministry of Health.”
“The commissioner said that we have not yet seen a reduction in the number of seriously ill patients. As the second dose is currently administered to populations at risk, we hope to see the full protective impact of the vaccine, ”said the statement.
An education worker receives an injection of COVID-19 vaccine at a Clalit clinic in Jerusalem, January 12, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel / Flash90)
The Ministry of Health also announced on Friday that it broke a daily vaccination record on Thursday, with 244,000 Israelis being vaccinated.
Ministry figures show that 2,441,379 Israelis received the first dose of the vaccine and 850,811 of them, the second.
Israel is the world leader in vaccination per capita, according to Our World in Data, Oxford.
More than a month after Israel’s vaccination campaign began, Ministry of Health officials expected to see a dramatic drop in daily infections and severe cases, but there is no such trend at the moment. The most contagious variants of the virus – particularly the British strain – are being blamed for the difficulty in reducing disease rates and easing the heavy burden in hospitals, despite the blockade and mass vaccination.
The ministry also reported a slight decline in daily coronavirus infections, as the worst outbreak in Israel since the start of the pandemic appeared to subside after weeks of strict blocking rules.
According to the ministry, 7,099 new cases were confirmed Thursday, after a peak of more than 10,100 earlier in the week. Along with another 1,228 cases since midnight, the total number of infections recorded in Israel has reached 585,746.
The drop in daily cases came as the test levels also decreased, although the rate of positive testing dropped to 8.9%.
The death toll stood at 4,245, with 27 deaths recorded Thursday.
The ministry said there were 82,029 active cases, with 1,845 patients hospitalized for COVID-19. Of these, 1,128 were in serious condition, with 310 on ventilators.