Close X
Sunday, November 24, 2024
ADVT 
National

U.K., Israel studies show single dose effective

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 03 Mar, 2021 08:28 PM
  • U.K., Israel studies show single dose effective

Studies from Israel and the United Kingdom showed that a single dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine significantly reduced COVID-19 infections, helping to guide British Columbia's decision to delay the second dose of vaccines by four months.

B.C. provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry has said the plan is based on research in the two countries as well as evidence collected by the BC Centre for Disease Control and in Quebec.

A study published by the University of Cambridge in the U.K., which has not yet been peer-reviewed, suggests that a single dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine can reduce the number of asymptomatic COVID-19 infections by 75 per cent.

In Israel, researchers studied the effects of a single dose of the same vaccine and published their findings in The Lancet medical journal, concluding that it was 85 per cent effective against symptomatic COVID-19 infections.

Also in The Lancet, a U.K. study found that the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is 81 per cent effective when its second dose is given three months after the first, compared with 55 per cent efficacy after six weeks.

Horacio Bach, an adjunct professor of infectious diseases at the University of British Columbia, says the province has enough evidence to back the four-month interval, though he believes it is the first in the world to delay the second dose for that long.

MORE National ARTICLES

Trudeau pledges more funding for vaccines abroad

Trudeau pledges more funding for vaccines abroad
The announcement comes as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson hosts Justin Trudeau and their G7 counterparts for a virtual leaders' summit aimed at bringing renewed momentum to COVID-19 vaccine distribution.

Trudeau pledges more funding for vaccines abroad

PM brushes off provincial defiance on handgun bans

PM brushes off provincial defiance on handgun bans
Trudeau says federal officials will have conversations with municipalities seeking handgun controls even if their provincial leaders oppose such bans.

PM brushes off provincial defiance on handgun bans

COVID variants may push cases to 20K/day by March

COVID variants may push cases to 20K/day by March
The Public Health Agency of Canada released modelling Friday suggesting that while infections continue to decline nationally, the spread of virus mutations threatens to reverse that progress.

COVID variants may push cases to 20K/day by March

Extra weeks to be added to COVID benefits, PM says

Extra weeks to be added to COVID benefits, PM says
Trudeau also says the federal sickness benefit will be expanded to four weeks from two so workers can stay home if they're feeling ill, or have to isolate because of COVID-19.

Extra weeks to be added to COVID benefits, PM says

First candidate enters B.C. Liberal leaders race

First candidate enters B.C. Liberal leaders race
The two-term Liberal member for the riding of Skeena, Ellis Ross, confirms he will seek the party's leadership.

First candidate enters B.C. Liberal leaders race

WATCH: Canada opens up immigration programs to meet targets like never before

WATCH: Canada opens up immigration programs to meet targets like never before
Canada Immigration pulls a SURPRISING MOVE to achieve its target plan of 401,000 immigrants in 2021, despite the COVID19 pandemic.

WATCH: Canada opens up immigration programs to meet targets like never before