Israel says Pfizer vaccine efficiency has fallen

Israel has announced that the effectiveness of Pfizer vaccine/ BioNtech has declined, despite the fact that it remains very effective in preventing serious symptoms of COVIDD-19.

The announcement comes after the increasing spread of the Delta version of the Coronavirus and the removal of physical distance restrictions in Israel.

The Israeli Health Ministry said that the effectiveness of the vaccine in preventing infection and symptoms has dropped to 64 percent, but that remains 93 percent effective in preventing respiratory and serious symptoms of the disease.

In her statement, the Ministry of Health did not provide data on the previous level of efficiency or any other data, Reuters reports.

In May, however, Israeli officials published a report stating that two doses of Pfizer vaccine provide 95 percent protection against infection, hospitalization, and severe symptoms of the disease.

A Pfizer company spokesman has declined to comment on Israel's state data, but he echoed the data from other research showing that antibodies driven by vaccines are able to neutralise all variants of corruption, including that Delta, though with a lower power.

Israel has been a champion in the 9.3 million population immunization campaign.

Some 60 percent of residents have received at least one dose of Pfizer's vaccine.

In January, Israel recorded up to 10,000 cases a day, while last month, single cases were recorded daily in the country.

Improving the epidemiological situation led Israel to remove almost all restrictive measures.