Two doses of Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine appear to provide 70 percent protection against hospitalization from the Omicron coronavirus variant, according to an extensive real-world study in South Africa.
The analysis released on Tuesday by South Africa's largest private health insurance administrator, Discovery Health, was based on more than 211,000 positive COVID-19 test results of adults from November 15 to December 7, about 78,000 of which were attributed to Omicron.
The discovery of Omicron was first announced in November by scientists in South Africa, and the country is the first to experience a surge in COVID-19 driven by the Omicron.
South Africa scientists have so far confirmed about 550 Omicron sequences, with the variant accounting for 78 percent of sequences from November, a higher share than the previously dominant Delta variant.
The discovery of a new strain of the coronavirus last month triggered an alarm that it could cause another surge in global infections, and led many countries to impose travel restrictions on the Southern Africa region. South Africa's daily infections have since risen to almost 20,000 in recent days.
Based on analysis by Discovery's clinical research and actuarial teams, and in collaboration with South Africa's Medical Research Council (SAMRC), the real-world study calculated that two doses of Pfizer-BioNTech offered 70 percent protection against hospitalization during the recent surge in cases and 33 percent protection against infection.