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Real world data from South Korea indicates AstraZeneca and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines 87% effective after first shot
5 May 2021 -

Real world data released by South Korea has revealed that that one dose of COVID-19 vaccines from British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca Plc (LON:AZN) and US pharmaceutical company Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) was 86.6% effective in preventing infections among people aged 60 and older, Reuters news agency reported on Wednesday.

The Pfizer vaccine, jointly developed by German biotechnology company BioNTech SE (Nasdaq:BNTX), was found to be 89.7% effective in preventing infection at least two weeks after a first dose was given, while the AstraZeneca shot was 86.0% effective.

This analysis is based on over 3.5 million people in South Korea aged 60 and older for two months from 26 February 2021 and included 521,133 people who received a first dose of either Pfizer or AstraZeneca shot.

According to South Korea's Korea Disease and Prevention Control Agency (KDCA), there were 1,237 COVID-19 cases in the data and only 29 were from the vaccinated group.

"It is shown that both vaccines provide a high protection against the disease after the first dose. (People) should get full vaccinations according to recommended schedule, as the protection rate will go up further after a second dose," the KDCA said.

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