London (CNN) New data shows that the first dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine "provides high levels of protection against infection and symptomatic disease," Public Health England (PHE) said in a press release on Monday. PHE's Siren Study, which was carried out on healthcare workers aged under the age of 65, found that one dose of the vaccine reduced the risk of infection by 72% after three weeks, while two vaccine doses reduced the risk of infection by 85%. This high level of protection extended to the B.1.1.7 coronavirus variant first identified in the UK in December. PHE also analyzed routine testing data based on symptomatic disease in over 12,000 people, which showed that one dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was 57% effective against symptomatic COVID-19 disease in those aged over 80 four weeks after the first dose. This increased to 88% one week after the second dose.

Source: CNN February 22, 2021 16:02 UTC