Doubts increases over Pfizer COVID vaccine after recipients tests positive for COVID.

On21st Jan, 2021,it was reported that more than 12,400 Israeli people tested positive for COVID after taking Pfizer and BioNTech manufactured vaccine. This has led to the serious doubts over the efficiency of Pfizer vaccine, which is reported to have 95% efficiency in phase III clinical trials.

This is a strong suggestion that the efficiency of the vaccine is not exactly the same as reported by Pfizer. The efficiency can be affected by many factors including the environment, and the population it given to. More importantly, this vaccine is not the final solution. The public should still learn to wear the mask, follow social distancing whenever possible, and use sanitizer, which is the most effective way to deal with the virus.

Israel’s health ministry tested the 189,000 people after they were vaccinated using Pfizer’s vaccine. 6.6% of the 189,000 people were tested positive. 69 people out of the reported figure of 12,400 were given 2 shots of the vaccine, and were still reported positive.

Israeli coronavirus commissioner Nachman Ash told the media early in the week on Tuesday, “A single dose of COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer appears to be less effective than we had thought. It is also less effective than what was reported by Pfizer.”

According to Pfizer, a single dose of the vaccine is about 52% effective against the virus.

Israeli government announced their plan to get more than half of their population by March. Israel have a population of 9 million and the government have plans to get 5.2 million people vaccinated by March, 2021. More than 2 million people have already been vaccinated till Tuesday.

Feng Duojia, president of the China Vaccine Industry Association, said it is possible that the people testing positive for COVID after taking the vaccine got infected before they developed the immunity towards the virus. Feng Duojia further added, “The key function of the vaccine is to reduce the incident rate or to prevent the serious symptoms from developing in vaccinated person. It does not stop the virus completely, so preventive measure should always be taken.”

As reported by Israeli media, after the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine, the infection rates are similar in those who have been vaccinated and those who have not been vaccinated. But the infection rate drops by 33% after the second dose of the vaccine.

It was reported that the vaccine will take around14 days to develop immunity against the virus after the person is vaccinated.