Pfizer’s Covid vaccine could produce a strong enough immune response to stop people who get the jab from spreading the coronavirus, a doctor in Israel has claimed.
Researchers found in a small study that recipients of the jab developed up to 20 times more antibodies within a week of having the second dose of the jab.
Higher levels of antibodies likely lead to a stronger immune response which could clear the virus before someone has a chance to spread it, but this is still not proven.
Until now, scientists didn’t know whether vaccines would stop transmission and were banking only on it preventing severe illness and death. Pfizer itself has not published any data showing how the jab affects the spread of the disease.
Developers of other vaccines have also not offered any proof that their vaccines will be able to reduce transmission of the virus.
The survey done on 102 hospital staff in Israel is the first indication that a Covid-19 vaccine may stop transmission. It saw all but two of them develop antibody levels that were even higher than patients who had recovered from Covid-19.