The Israel reported on Monday a decline in its effectiveness vaccine of Pfizer against the coronavirus in preventing infection and symptomatic disease, but he said it remained highly effective in preventing severe COVID-19.
This decline coincided with the spread of the Delta variant and the lifting of social distancing restrictions in Israel.
The vaccine's effectiveness in preventing both infection and symptomatic disease has dropped to 64%, the Ministry of Health reported. At the same time, however, The vaccine remains 93% effective in preventing hospitalization and severe illness caused by the coronavirus.
In its statement, the ministry did not specify what the previous level was or provide any further details. However, officials had published a report in May, according to which two doses of the Pfizer vaccine provided more than 95% protection against infection, hospitalization, and severe illness.
A Pfizer spokesperson declined to comment on the data from Israel, but cited other studies showing that the antibodies induced by the vaccine are capable of neutralizing all known variants of the virus, including Delta, albeit with reduced potency.
Approximately 60% of Israel’s 9.3 million people have received at least one dose of the Pfizer vaccine, as part of a vaccination campaign that has reduced daily cases from 10,000 in January to single digits last month.
This prompted Israel to lift nearly all social distancing restrictions, as well as the mandatory use of masks, although the latter measure has been partially reinstated in recent days. At the same time, the Delta variant, which has become the dominant strain of the virus worldwide, has begun to spread.
Since then, the daily number of cases has gradually increased, reaching 343 on Sunday. The number of seriously ill patients rose to 35 from 21.
