Other estimates say vaccine cuts infection rates by up to 60 percent
14 days after first jab.

As Israel’s COVID-19 coronavirus vaccination campaign steams ahead, the first studies of the Pfizer jab’s efficiency appear to largely confirm the company’s own estimates.

A major study conducted by Clalit healthcare provider demonstrated that the Pfizer vaccine was able to slash infections by about one-third 14 days after the first shot had been administered, Israel’s Channel 13 reported Tuesday.

The estimate is based on a comparison of 200,000 Israelis aged 60 and more who received the first shot and had to test for COVID-19 — and a non-inoculated group of the same size and age.

Maccabi, another healthcare provider, reported that according to its own records the infection rate was down 60 percent two weeks after the first shot.

Also on Tuesday, Sharon Alroy-Preis, who is Public Health chief at the Health Ministry, told Channel 12 that the Pfizer vaccine cut COVID-19 infections by half two weeks after the initial jab.

The official cited the preliminary data from Israel’s inoculation campaign as the basis for the estimate, comparing infection rates among those who received their first shot and those who have not.

During its own trial, Pfizer established that it takes about 11 days for the organism to build up the antibodies needed for sufficient defense against the disease.

Three weeks after the initial jab, the person must take the second shot — the so-called booster — to complete the vaccination.

(i24 News).