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Covid-19: Chance of infection drops after 1st dose of Pfizer or AstraZeneca vaccines

Dubai - New study says vaccines generated strong antibody responses.

A UK study found that just the first dose of Pfizer or AstraZeneca vaccine generated strong antibody responses.

A UK study has found that the chances of becoming infected by Covid fell sharply after the first dose of either the AstraZeneca or Pfizer vaccines.

According to the BBC, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and University of Oxford research found a strong antibody response in all age groups from both shots.

One of the largest studies to date, the research is based on virus tests from 370,000 people in the general UK population.

The vaccines also worked just as well for those over 75 years old and those with underlying health conditions, as other people.

In the first study, people who had been vaccinated with a single dose of either the Oxford-AstraZeneca or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines were 65% less likely to get a new Covid infection. The study showed both vaccines were effective against the Kent variant (B117) as well.

The second study, in nearly 46,000 adults who had been vaccinated with one dose, found strong antibody responses - a sign that the vaccines are stimulating the body's defence system to protect against the virus - in all age groups.

"The protection from new infections gained from a single dose supports the decision to extend the time between first and second doses to 12 weeks to maximise initial vaccination coverage, and reduce hospitalisations and deaths," said Dr Koen Pouwels, senior researcher at University of Oxford's Nuffield Department of Population Health.

Pouwels, however, stressed that it was still possible for vaccinated persons to acquire Covid and pass it onto unvaccinated people which meant that mask wearing and social distancing was still necessary.