From the FT: Waning Covid vaccine efficacy has Pfizer pushing for boosters globally

News of the US Food and Drug Administration's full approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine yesterday boosted the hopes of many that vaccine hesitancy – based on concerns over the vaccine's efficacy and safety – would be countered. This article by our partners at the Financial Times of London, however, may put a pin in those hopes. Israel, which was the first country on Earth to fully vaccinate a majority of its citizens against Covid-19, is now grappling with soaring infections. According to NPR, nearly one in every 150 people in Israel today has the virus. Concern over soaring infections, despite its highly vaccinated population, have led experts to question why; 'The answer, slowly taking shape in hotly contested data, is that the protection conferred by the BioNTech/Pfizer two-shot vaccine, which Israel has used almost exclusively, appears to fade over time faster than anticipated, increasing the risk of "breakthrough" infections.' As set out in this article, case rates in Israel have recently climbed almost as quickly among people with two doses as among the unvaccinated. With the data from Israel showing higher rates of breakthrough infections among people who were vaccinated earlier, the waning vaccine efficacy has Pfizer 'pushing for the use of boosters.' – Nadya Swart

Israel hopes boosters can avert new lockdown as Covid vaccine efficacy fades

Mehul Srivastava in Tel Aviv and John Burn-Murdoch in London

After Israel raced ahead to vaccinate much of its population and reopened its economy in March, the Mediterranean nation became a lode star for the world.

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