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A new study has found the first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine to be 85 per cent effective between two and four weeks after it has been administered.

The not yet peer-reviewed study was published in the Lancet medical journal by researchers who carried out a survey of more than 9,000 healthcare workers in Israel's largest hospital.

Comparing workers who had taken the first dose of the vaccine with those who hadn't, the researchers found that the vaccine was 47 per cent effective between one and 14 days after inoculation.

The vaccine's efficacy then rose to 85 per cent after 15 to 28 days.

The study's authors suggested that results provided support for delaying the second dose of the vaccine in countries facing vaccine shortages.

This would allow a higher population coverage with a single dose.

Pfizer declined to comment on the data, saying in a statement that it was doing its own analysis of "the vaccine's real-world effectiveness in several locations worldwide, including Israel".

Vaccine could help to stop spread as well

According to Reuters, a separate study by the Israeli Health Ministry and Pfizer found the receiving both doses of the vaccine reduced asymptomatic infections by 89.4 per cent and symptomatic infections by 93.7 per cent.

The studies — while limited — are helping to build optimism that vaccinations might be effective in preventing the spread of the virus, rather than just stopping people from getting ill.

Both Pfizer and the Israeli Health Ministry did not respond to the story by Reuters.

Top image from Pixabay

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