The Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine is less effective against the Delta variant as originally thought, according to a recent medical study.
The preliminary study, carried out by the Israeli health ministry over the last month, found the Pfizer vaccine was 63 per cent effective against the spread of the virus however, the same vaccine was recorded as being 93 per cent effective against serious illness and hospitalisation.
“Delta is a lot more infectious, but appears to not lead to as much serious illness and death, especially given that we now have the vaccine,” said Professor Nadav Davidovitch, who sits on the government’s expert advisory committee on Covid-19.
Public Health England found the vaccine provided 88 per cent protection against symptomatic infection with Delta, and 93 per cent against the Alpha variant first identified in Kent.
The same study found that the effect of the AstraZeneca vaccine was lower at 66 per cent for the Delta variant.
