Coronavirus czar Prof. Nachman Ash said this week that the first dose of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine has proven to be less effective than the US biotech suggested, Army Radio reported. Ash said that many Israelis contracted the virus after being vaccinated with the first dose. “The data on the protection against the virus after the first dose is lower than Pfizer presented,” he said. Pfizer claimed that its vaccine is about 52% effective after the first dose, and 95% effective a week after the second dose. According to Dr. Sharon Alroy-Preis, the head of the Health Ministry’s Public Health division, over 12,400 Israelis were diagnosed with the virus after being vaccinated, including 69 people who received both doses. However, Alroy-Preis explained that the phenomenon was to be expected as the first dose does not provide protection until a week to ten days afterward, and full protection is not reached until a week to ten days after the second dose. Also, some of the people diagnosed with the virus after receiving the first dose (or the second dose) were likely to have already been carrying the virus as it takes time to incubate. Finally, about 5% of people who are fully vaccinated may still contract the coronavirus as the Pfizer vaccine is about 95% effective. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

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