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A study published by the University of Cambridge in the U.K., which has not yet been peer-reviewed, suggests that a single dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine can reduce the number of asymptomatic COVID-19 infections by 75 per cent.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

Fraser Health declares COVID-19 outbreak at Cindrich Elementary School in Surrey

Fraser Health declares COVID-19 outbreak at Cindrich Elementary School in Surrey
An individual at the school tested positive for a COVID-19 variant of concern. Only those staff and students who have been identified as close contacts need to be tested and have been contacted.

Fraser Health declares COVID-19 outbreak at Cindrich Elementary School in Surrey

B.C. auditor general raises accounting concerns

B.C. auditor general raises accounting concerns
Pickup outlined Tuesday what he describes as a nine-year accounting difference of opinion his office has with B.C. over the way federal funds for capital projects are added to the province's annual budget totals.

B.C. auditor general raises accounting concerns

438 new COVID19 cases for Tuesday

438 new COVID19 cases for Tuesday
There are two new COVID deaths in BC. There have been 1365 deaths in BC connected to the virus.

438 new COVID19 cases for Tuesday

B.C. brings rapid response teams to schools

B.C. brings rapid response teams to schools
The government says in a statement the teams will work with staff at schools, school districts and health authorities to review significant exposures to the virus.

B.C. brings rapid response teams to schools

PM should promise to avoid pandemic election: MPs

PM should promise to avoid pandemic election: MPs
The committee makes no similar call for opposition parties to promise not to trigger an election during the pandemic by voting non-confidence in the government.

PM should promise to avoid pandemic election: MPs

In-person gatherings important, says church lawyer

In-person gatherings important, says church lawyer
Chief Justice Christopher Hinkson said during a hearing on Tuesday people are still free to hold and express religious views and it's the safety of those who are gathering that's at issue.

In-person gatherings important, says church lawyer