Pfizer-BioNTech’s corona vaccine protects 88 percent against hospitalization due to the new Delta variant. Also, according to the Israeli Ministry of Health, people who have been vaccinated with the drug are more than 91 percent less likely to become seriously ill from that mutant.
The ministry relies on research conducted between June 20 and July 17 among an unknown number of people. According to Israeli media, a striking conclusion is that the corona vaccine is, on average, still 41 percent effective in preventing infections accompanied by disease symptoms.
This is at odds with research recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Then researchers concluded that the same vaccine would be 88 percent effective in preventing such asymptomatic corona infection from the Delta variant.
The Israeli news site Times of Israel reports that the latest statistics suggest that protection continues to weaken in the months following vaccination. People who were vaccinated in January would still be protected for 16 percent against infection. For people vaccinated in April, that percentage is still 75 percent.
Experts do have reservations about these figures. The elapsed time may not be the only factor that matters here. It would also play a role that people who were vaccinated early belong to vulnerable groups that are less resistant to a virus infection.
