Israel Reports Decrease In Effectiveness Of Pfizer's COVID-19 Vaccine To 64 Percent

JAKARTA - Israel reported a decrease in the effectiveness of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine in preventing infection and symptomatic disease, although it is said to be still effective in preventing serious diseases.

The decline coincided with the spread of the Delta variant and the end of social distancing in Israel.

"The effectiveness of the vaccine in preventing infection and symptomatic disease has fallen to 64 percent since June 6. At the same time, the vaccine is 93 percent effective in preventing hospitalization and serious illness due to the coronavirus," the Israeli Ministry of Health said.

The ministry in its statement did not say what the previous level was or provide further details. However, ministry officials published a report in May showing that two doses of Pfizer's vaccine provided more than 95 percent protection against infection, hospitalization and severe illness.

A Pfizer spokesman declined to comment on the data from Israel, but cited other studies showing that vaccine-evoked antibodies were still capable of neutralizing all tested variants, including Delta, albeit with reduced strength.

It is known that about 60 percent of Israel's 9.3 million population have received at least one shot of the Pfizer vaccine. This vaccination program was followed by a decrease in daily infection cases, from above 10 thousand cases in January, to only 1 digit last month.

This prompted Israel to lift social distancing measures, as well as relax rules on the use of face masks, although recently the mask wearing policy was reinstated in line with the outbreak of the global dominant Delta variant of COVID-19.

Since then, daily cases have gradually increased, reaching 343 on Sunday. The number of seriously ill rose to 35 from 21.

Data scientist Eran Segal of Israel's Weizmann Institute of Science said the country was unlikely to experience the high hospitalization rates seen at the start of the year, as far fewer were critically ill.

"It's okay to continue life back to normal and without restrictions," he said while stepping up measures such as vaccination outreach and ensuring testing for Israelis returning from abroad.