Meanwhile in England, figures in a research paper from Public Health England – released last week but awaiting peer review – showed the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines were highly effective in reducing COVID infections among people aged 70 and older.
Since the study began in January, protection against symptomatic COVID four weeks after the first dose ranged between 57 per cent and 61 per cent for the Pfizer vaccine and between 60 per cent and 73 per cent for the AstraZeneca inoculation.
Although the data is welcome news, Australia will have to wait months before experiencing similar results.