A first dose of the Pfizer  Covid-19 vaccine is 85 per cent effective, a new study of Israeli health workers has revealed.

The research, published by The Lancet, appears to support the UK government’s decision to go ahead with a mass single dose vaccine programme.

The research was conducted on more than 7,000  healthcare workers last month  who were vaccinated at Israel’s Sheba Medical Centre.

It  showed an 85 per cent reduction in symptomatic disease between 15 and 28 days after the jab was  given.

Overall infections, including among asymptomatic patients, were reduced by 75 per cent.

“This ground-breaking research supports the British government’s decision to begin inoculating its citizens with a single dose of the vaccine,” Prof. Arnon Afek, Deputy Director General of Sheba Medical Centre said.

Professor Eyal Leshem, Director of Sheba Medical Centre’s Institute for Travel & Tropical Medicine added, “This is the first study assessing effectiveness of a single vaccine dose in real life conditions and shows early effectiveness, even before the second dose was administered.”