Misleading: Immunity from Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine weakens after two months. After five and seven months, it is only 20 percent effective.

By: Pallavi Sethi
October 13 2021

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Although immunity against COVID-19 infection diminishes, the Pfizer vaccine continues to protect against hospitalization and severe disease. A verified Instagram page, @uniladtech, recently claimed that, according to a study, immunity wanes after Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine. However, the post, which has over 14.5k likes and 600 comments, fails to provide full context. It does not clarify that, according to the study, the Pfizer vaccine still protects against hospitalization and severe disease at a level of 96 percent for six months after the second dose. In addition, it fails to provide a link to the source of the study. On October 6, researchers in Qatar published a study highlighting the impact of the Pfizer vaccine against COVID-19 in the months after the first and second doses. The results revealed that the estimated effectiveness against the virus peaked at 77.5 percent in the third week after the second dose. Following the peak, the immune response gradually waned, and between five and seven months, it diminished to around 20 percent. However, it is crucial to note while vaccine effectiveness against symptomatic and asymptomatic infection diminished, it continued to protect against severe disease and hospitalization for six months. In fact, according to the study, the protection rose to 96 percent in the first two months after the second dose and remained at this level for six months. It is dangerous to use headlines regarding waning vaccine effectiveness without providing the full context; such posts can fuel vaccine misinformation and cause harm. The COVID-19 pandemic has given rise to a lot of potentially dangerous misinformation. For reliable advice on COVID-19, including symptoms, prevention, and available treatment, please refer to the World Health Organization or your national healthcare authority.