Under the coronavirus vaccine distribution programs, there is an increasingly number of people getting vaccinated. It is now when scientists will be able to examine the actual performance of the vaccines in protecting from the SARS-CoV-2 virus. So far, the results of the widespread vaccination have been positive, which raise hope for a coronavirus-free world soon.
Recently, one of the reports that highlight the efficacy of the vaccines has come from the Los Angeles Fire Department. During the December of last year, firefighters in the department received coronavirus vaccinations.
At the moment, three-fourth of the workers in the fire department are vaccinated. A newly released memo on the progress of vaccination by Ralph Terrazas, who is the Fire Chief, states that the average number of new infections has dropped from twenty to five post-vaccination.
This is a major indicator of the vaccine’s efficacy. Even though the vaccines was also found to be effective during the last stages of their clinical trials, there were concerns about them working in the real world.
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Such concerns are not only limited to coronavirus vaccines. Typically, there are differences in effectiveness of all vaccines in clinical trials and real life due to a number of factors.
However, the positive outcomes of coronavirus vaccine distribution have shown that there is nothing to worry about. In addition to the memo from the Los Angeles Fire Department, there are also other examples of effectiveness of the vaccines.
For instance, Israel is currently the country with the highest vaccination rate with over fifty percent of its population vaccinated. In the past month, the country’s leading health agency, Clalit, also released data on outcomes of vaccination in older adults aged sixty and over.
According to the data, the rate of new infections dropped by thirty-three percent within fourteen days of receiving a vaccine. In comparison, no change was noted in the older adults who did not get vaccinated.
Maccabi, which is another agency in Israel, reported a decrease of sixty percent in the number of new infections among 430,000 in a period of fourteen to twenty-one days following coronavirus vaccination.
Though Maccabi’s report needs to be peer-reviewed, multiple evidences overall show the efficacy of the vaccines in Israel.
In comparison, the rate of vaccination in the US is only 9.6 percent even though the distribution began at the same time as Israel. Though the speed is slow at the moment, the rate of new infections has gone down in the country.
The number of cases may even further decrease in the coming months as the speed is likely to increase.
Additionally, Johnson and Johnson have recently submitted data on the Jansen vaccine for peer-review and filed for an Emergency Use Authorization after reporting successful results in reducing the risk of coronavirus infection by over eighty percent.
This will also help in speeding up vaccine distribution and achieving widespread immunity in the US as well as other countries as the Jansen vaccine requires only one dosage unlike Moderna and Pfizer.
The higher the vaccine rate the easier it will be to control the spread of the coronavirus infection and end the pandemic in this year.
