Alliance for Pandemic Preparedness

May 6, 2021

Effectiveness of the BNT162b2 Covid-19 Vaccine against the B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 Variants

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  • The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was 90% effective against PCR-confirmed infection with the SARS-CoV-2 variant B.1.1.7 and 75% effective against the B.1351 variant 14 days after the second dose, according to a nationwide case-control analysis in Qatar through March 2021. Individuals with positive and negative PCR tests were matched on demographics and reason for PCR testing to account for differences in health-seeking behavior. A separate cohort analysis comparing incidence of infection in vaccinated persons and in a national cohort who were SARS-CoV-2 antibody-negative supported the findings with an estimated vaccine effectiveness of 87% against the B.1.1.7 variant and 72% against the B.1.351 variant. Vaccine effectiveness against severe, critical, or fatal SARS-CoV-2 infection from infection with any variant was 97%. Researchers were able to assess vaccine effectiveness against infection from variants of concern because by March 2021 in Qatar, roughly half of sequenced cases were B1.351 infections and roughly 45% were B.1.1.7 infections. Breakthrough infections have been recorded in 1,616 of 265,410 (0.6%) persons vaccinated with two doses.

Abu-Raddad et al. (May 2021). Effectiveness of the BNT162b2 Covid-19 Vaccine against the B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 Variants. The New England Journal of Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMc2104974