Pfizer Vaccine Cuts COVID-19 Symptoms by 90% in Real-World Study

TUESDAY, Feb. 16, 2021 (HealthDay News) — In a ‘real-world’ study, COVID-19 symptoms are reduced by more than 90% in people who receive the Pfizer vaccine.

Israeli researchers analyzed data on 1.2 million people, about half of whom received the vaccine, CNN reported.

Among those who received the vaccine, the rate of infected people who felt ill was 94% lower and the rate of serious illness was 92% lower, according to the findings from the Clalit Research Institute.

The research hasn’t yet been peer-reviewed, CNN reported.

Pfizer’s own trial found that the vaccine provided 95% protection against symptomatic COVID-19.

The affirmation in the new study is “really important,” according to CNN medical analyst Dr. Leana Wen, an emergency physician and visiting professor at George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health.

“You want to make sure that the study results that we initially were seeing in tens of thousands of people is reflected when, when the population is in the millions,” Wen said.

Dr. Eric Topol, executive vice president of Scripps Research Institute, said this is an important aspect of the Israeli study.

“It’s highly significant telling us that vaccination, in the real world at scale, achieves remarkable reduction of severe Covid, hospitalizations, and fatalities, fully validating the randomized trial on mRNA vaccines,” Topol said.

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