Israeli researchers have found out if just one picture of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine could lead to lower viral loads, making it more difficult to transmit COVID-19 if someone gets the infection after the first dose .
Key points:
- Israel’s high vaccination rate makes it easy to collect data
- Pfizer has an agreement with Israel for anonymous data on vaccine recipients
- Although positive, the studies were not published or peer-reviewed
The Pfizer injection, which will be distributed to priority groups across Australia from Monday, must take two doses 21 days apart to be effective.
And it’s not the only positive study about the recent Pfizer injection that came out of Israel.
An independent Israeli independent study, from the country’s largest healthcare provider Clalit, found a 94 percent drop in COVID-19 symptomatic infections among 600,000 people who received two doses of the Pfizer vaccine.
Researchers also found that the fully inoculated group was 92 percent less likely to get a serious illness from the virus.
Why do we get so much Israeli data?
Nigel McMillan, professor of infectious diseases and immunology at Griffith University’s Menzies Institute of Health, said it was no surprise that information was coming in about the injection of Pfizer coming out of Israel.
The Pfizer option was the first coronavirus vaccine he tested through phase three of trials, explained Dr. McMillan, which meant it was out of use in the community.
And Israel has already administered more than 6.7 million doses, according to COVID vaccine administrator Bloomberg.
This high vaccination rate and the fact that each citizen has a digital health record makes it easy for the country to collect and compare information.
“Because of [Israel] vaccinating many people, it will allow them to compare unvaccinated people with vaccines, “Dr McMillan said.
Pfizer has signed an agreement with the Israeli Ministry of Health for anonymous data on vaccine recipients – a settlement the company defines as a “non-mediated‘ real-world ’evidence data collection collaboration”, rather than clinical research study.
Reduce viral loads after one vaccination
The first study, which found reduced viral loads after the first Pfizer dose, re-examined the test results of 2,897 patients.
“This shows that if you have been vaccinated, even with just one dose, and immunity is not expected to start until at least seven to 10 days… you will have less virus in your nasal swabs, ”said Dr. McMillan.
“So you have about four times as much virus,” he said, adding that this meant the infected person was less likely to spread the virus.
Peter Collignon, professor of infectious diseases and microbiology at the Australian National University, said the results were not entirely surprising.
“At least all vaccines reduce the severity of the infection and therefore it is similar to the virus you lost,” he said.
“Pfizer vaccine [impact on disease severity] so far it looks the most promising, so I’m not surprised by the evidence that it affects transmission. “
But the data has its limitations. It has not yet been published or reviewed by peers, and it does not include data for what happens after the second dose of Pfizer.
“It is certainly an exciting move; if one dose reduces fourfold, two doses would be expected to reduce that even more, “said Dr McMillan.
And while Pfizer welcomed the initial results, the company made it clear that two doses of the vaccine were needed to deliver the 95 percent efficacy level observed in their phase three test, and more were needed. research to better understand distribution.
Beat COVID-19 Symptomatic Diseases
Meanwhile, a Clalit study found a 94 percent drop in COVID-19 symptomatic infections among 600,000 people who received two doses of the Pfizer vaccine.
Dr McMillan said that although he did not see the study dataset, it would be a positive step if the results were replicated in everyone who receives the vaccine.
The data behind this second study was not made public.
Even Pfizer says it has yet to see the published research from Clalit, but is “looking forward to those results”.
Dr McMillan said that during the pandemic, it was common for research to be released at an early stage because health experts and the wider community were willing to examine any new findings.
However, he maintained that the “gold standard” of scientific study was data reviewed and published by peers.