UK Inoculation Program Provides Glimpse of COVID-19 Vaccine Effectiveness

The United Kingdom’s inoculation program has provided a glimpse on the effectiveness of vaccines against the COVID-19 pandemic, with data compiled and put into charts by CNBC.

• Vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech were the first approved and rolled out in December, followed by Oxford-AstraZeneca.
• Deaths falling fastest in the over-85 age group in Scotland after first vaccinations on December 8, 2020.
• Almost 14% of the British population now has antibodies against COVID-19, according to a blood test study published by Imperial College London. Most of those with antibodies are aged 80 years and over at 41%, which could be due to the high vaccination rate in the group.
• Studies of Public Health England found that one dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is 57% effective at protecting against symptomatic disease in those aged over 80.
• Public Health Scotland data shows that the Pfizer-BioNtech reduced the risk of hospitalization from COVID-19 in up to 85% bby the fourth week after receiving a dose, while Oxford-AstraZeneca had a higher 94%.
• The UK aims to vaccinate all over-50s by mid-April and all adults by end of July, two months ahead of the previous target. As of Sunday, over 20 million have received their first dose and almost 800,000 have received both doses.