When the COVID-19 vaccine became widely circulated earlier this year, there were still questions as to whether they would prevent an infection. Clinical trials showed that they reduced the risk of acquiring the virus, but now that the vaccines have been around for a little while longer, research is yielding more positive results as to the effectiveness of the vaccine—in particular, the one manufactured jointly by Pfizer and BioNTech.

Brooklyn Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing has a look at two major study results that will hopefully give people more confidence in the vaccines that are showing historically positive results.

First Report: Vaccinated Hospital Workers Nearly 80% Less Likely to Get Sick

A report from the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee studied just over 3,000 employees who had at least one dose (around 2,800 had both doses) and approximately 2,100 workers who did not get vaccinated.

Over a three-month period, 51 people who had at least one shot of the vaccine tested positive for COVID-19, and 22 of them showed symptoms. Among the unvaccinated group, 185 tested positive and 106 got sick. The report concluded that people who had at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine were 79% less likely to get the virus and 72% less likely to be infected by asymptomatic. Additionally, workers who were a week past their second vaccination were 90% less likely to become infected.

Second Study: Vaccine Proven to Be Even More Effective

A second study was conducted at Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center in Israel from Dec. 20 to Feb. 25. The study found that just 64 of 5,953 people who were vaccinated had symptoms from a COVID-19 infection. Among the non-vaccinated group, 85 of the 757 workers who did not get vaccinated ended up getting sick. Those numbers project to being 89% less likely to have symptoms from a COVID-19 infection in those who had at least one Pfizer shot and 97% less likely for those who were fully vaccinated.

Both studies came to the conclusion that the vaccines are greatly reducing the risk of the virus being spread by asymptomatic people.

To learn more about Brooklyn Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing and all of the services they offer, visit http://brooklyn-park-center.facilities.centershealthcare.org/.