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A new study published in a medical journal related to the Covid-19 vaccine found that Pfizer doses are effective against variants. The Israel Ministry of Health reported that 2 shots of the Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine delivered more than 95% protection from infection, severe illness, and death, The Israel Ministry of Health reported in The Lancet. The study said, “2 doses of BNT162b2 are highly effective across all age groups in preventing symptomatic and asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections and COVID-19-related hospitalizations, severe disease, and death, including those caused by the B.1.1.7 SARS-CoV-2 variant”. Point to be noted that B.1.1.7 is known as the variant first identified in the United Kingdom. The study added that the Pfizer vaccine provided 95.3% protection against infection and 96.7% protection against death 7 days after the 2^nd dose.

The study also said, “Full vaccination mattered as one dose alone gave just 57.7% protection against infection, 75.7% against hospitalization, and 77% against death. By 14 days after vaccination, protections conferred by a second dose increased to 96.5% protection against infection, 98% against hospitalization, and 98.1% against death”. More than 5.41 million people have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine in Israel, as of 5^th May 2021, in which 62.55% relative to the population; 5.07 million people fully vaccinated against COVID-19, 58.56% relative to the population. Israel ranks at number 3 in terms of countries with the highest percentages of vaccinated populations. Gibraltar is number 1 at 99.73%; Seychelles is number 2 at 61.13%; the United States is number 10 at 30.58%.

Other countries in the top 10 include the Cayman Islands, the United Arab Emirates, Bermuda, Chile, Bahrain, and San Marino. Another study said, “The estimated effectiveness of the vaccine against any documented infection with the B.1.1.7 variant was 89.5% at 14 or more days after the second dose. The effectiveness against any documented infection with the B.1.351 variant was 75%. The company announced on Wednesday that two of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine booster shots understudy induced an immune response against SARS-CoV-2 and variants (first identified in South Africa and Brazil). A variant-specific booster shot resulted in higher levels of neutralizing antibodies against the concerning South African variant with fewer side effects than a third shot of the original vaccine.