Israel says Pfizer vax effectiveness down to 64%

Tel Aviv, July 6 (IANS) The effectiveness of the Pfizer vaccine against Covid-19 has dropped to 64 per cent in Israel, the country's Ministry of Health said.The new figure refers to the period between June 6 and July 3, and it is significantly lower than the effectiveness rate of 94.3 percent in protection against infection, measured between May 2 and June 5, Xinhua news agency quoted the Ministry as saying on Monday.It noted that the decline was observed along with the spread of the Delta Covid-19 variant in Israel.However, the effectiveness of the vaccine in preventing hospitalisations and severe coronavirus disease is currently estimated at 93 per cent in Israel.The Ministry currently promotes the administration of a third vaccine dose to those who have suffered a functional decline in the immune system, but there is currently no decision to launch a third dose campaign for the entire population.Since the start of the vaccination campaign in Israel on December 20, 2020, over 5.65 million people, or 60.6 per cent of the population, have received the first dose of the vaccine, while 5.18 million have received the second dose.
--IANS ksk/