The medical chief at Pfizer Israel on Thursday said the company's vaccine against coronavirus is effective against the Delta variant, which originated in India.
Israel has in recent days been experiencing a resurgence of coronavirus following two mass outbreaks at schools in Modi'in and Binyamina. The outbreaks are believed to have been caused by the entry of the more contagious Delta variant into the country.
“The aggressiveness of the Indian variant is not yet known, but the vaccine is still effective against it,” Dr. Alon Rappaport told Ynet. "We are not worried and are constantly monitoring the vaccine's efficacy data. As long as the efficacy is at around 90%, we do not think it is necessary to modify it.”
According to the medical chief, the company’s studies show that the vaccine remains very efficient even in countries where the majority of infections are caused by the Delta strain.
“We are talking about around 90% efficacy in prevention of symptomatic disease, and about 95% efficacy in prevention of serious illness, which might require hospitalizations.”
Rappaport also referred to the concerns that the Delta variant could infect those who were fully inoculated against the pathogen.
“No vaccine completely protects against the disease, but our vaccine is very effective. If we look and compare for example to the flu vaccines we are used to receiving every year, which are 60-70% effective. Our vaccine is effective at such rates of 90 to 95%,” said Rappaport.”
“[If one gets re-infected] the chance to develop a serious illness lowers significantly. The chance of death also decreases significantly.”
The medical chief added that the vaccine’s efficacy also lies in the fact that it has proven effective in preventing hospitalization.
"Efficiency can be measured in many parameters… It is very important to prevent hospitalizations because of the burden [an outbreak] could place on [a country's] health system.”
Rappaport further referred to the fear among parents to get their children vaccinated despite the FDA’s announcement that the vaccine is safe for children aged 12-15.
“We conducted a study in which about 2,260 subjects at this age range participated, half of which received the vaccine and half received placebo,” said Rappaport.
“We have seen that the vaccine is 100% effective. We also saw that it is safe to those aged 12 to 15 just as it is safe to ages of 16 to 25. The side effect of inflammation of the heart is rare and transient. The benefit of the vaccine outweighs the risk. "
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A breach in Ben Gurion Airport allowed thousands to enter Israel without undergoing COVID tests
(Photo: Shaul Golan)
The Health Ministry said on Thursday the daily number of new coronavirus cases has surpassed 100 for the third day in a row following two, mass coronavirus outbreaks in schools in Binyamina and Modiin last week, believed to have been caused by a breach in Ben Gurion Airport that saw thousands enter the country without undergoing a COVID test.
Israel’s contagion rate has also spiked to 0.3%. The number of active patients currently stands at 680, of whom 52 are hospitalized. The number of patients in critical condition is 26, of whom 18 are connected to ventilators.
Due to this recent increase in COVID data, the government is mulling whether to reinstate some of its coronavirus regulations, chief among them the indoor mask mandate, which was abolished just last week.