In two new studies from Weill Cornell Medicine, researchers found Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine appears to be standing up well against the challenges posed by more contagious coronavirus variants from Britain and South Africa.
The Pfizer mRNA vaccine showed about 90% documented effectiveness in protecting against infection with the British B.1.1.7 variant and 75% effectiveness against the South African B.1.351 variant.
But the effectiveness against the variants was lower than the 95% efficacy demonstrated in clinical trial data for which the Pfizer vaccine received emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Meanwhile, a second study showed that two doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine provide a high level of protection.
The findings from Israel—the first nation to report national data on the vaccine—showed that two doses provide more than 95% protection for people age 16 and older against COVID-19 infection, hospitalization and death.
The study period was from Jan. 24 to April 3, 2021, a time when the dominant strain in Israel was the B.1.1.7 variant first detected in the United Kingdom.
A single dose of the vaccine provided 58% protection against infection, 76% against hospitalization and 77% against death, the team found.
By comparison, the estimated effectiveness of the annual flu vaccine usually ranges between 40% and 60%, with some years dipping even lower, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The differences between the effectiveness of one or two doses highlight the importance of fully vaccinating adults.
The findings also show the public health benefits of a national vaccination program, which was the key driver of a decline in COVID-19 infections in Israel.
Researchers say that while virus variants may be able to escape some immunity induced by vaccines, the vaccines are still highly effective at the task they were designed for: taming the virus and removing its ability to kill.
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The study findings are published in the New England Journal of Medicine and The Lancet. One author of the study is Laith Abu-Raddad.
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