variant B.1.1.7, thereby providing evidence that BNT162b2 is effective against B.1.1.7. These findings are consistent with laboratory studies that indicated that BNT162b2 was likely to be effective against B.1.1.7.22 Notably, another clinically important variant, B.1.351, which was initially identified in South Africa, has recently been identified in Israel.23 Vaccine effectiveness against B.1.351, however, could not be estimated in our study because of the small number of B.1.351 infections identified in Israel during the study period. This study also suggests that two doses of BNT162b2 are effective against asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections (with vaccine effectiveness estimates of 92% at ≥7 days after the second dose and 94% at ≥14 after the second dose). Estimates of effectiveness against asymptomatic infections were slightly lower than those against COVID-19, which could suggest a higher threshold of protection for asymptomatic infection compared with symptomatic illness. We conservatively defined asymptomatic infections as SARS-CoV-2 infections in interviewees who reported no fever and no respiratory symptoms at the time of the interview. Additionally, it is possible that some SARS-CoV-2-infected individuals who reported being asymptomatic at the time of interview might have instead been presymptomatic (ie, developed
Age 16–44 years 84611 95∙1 1066 1∙7 97∙2% (96∙3–97∙8) 97∙1% (96∙7–97∙3) Age 45–64 years 19579 86∙1 1292 2∙2 96∙5% (95∙6–97∙2) 96∙5% (96∙3–96∙7) Age ≥65 years 5686 67∙7 1284 2∙5 96∙1% (95∙1–96∙9) 95∙9% (95∙5–96∙3) All ages 109876 91∙5 3642 2∙1 96∙6% (96∙1–97∙0) 96∙5% (96∙3–96∙8) Asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection Age 16–44 years 40088 45∙1 666 1∙1 95∙8% (94∙4–96∙9) 95∙2% (94∙6–95∙8) Age 45–64 years 7414 32∙6 729 1∙3 94∙3% (92∙4–95∙7) 94∙0% (93∙4–94∙4) Age ≥65 years 1636 19∙5 633 1∙2 91∙7% (88∙8–93∙8) 91∙5% (90∙4–92∙5) All ages 49138 40∙9 2028 1∙2 94∙4% (93∙3–95∙3) 93∙8% (93∙3–94∙2) Symptomatic COVID-19 Age 16–44 years 28196 31∙7 230 0∙4 98∙4% (97∙7–98∙8) 97∙8% (97∙5–98∙1) Age 45–64 years 7790 34∙3 333 0∙6 97∙9% (97∙2–98∙4) 97∙7% (97∙4–97∙9) Age ≥65 years 3079 36∙6 437 0∙9 97∙9% (97∙3–98∙4) 97∙5% (97∙2–97∙8) All ages 39065 32∙5 1000 0∙6 98∙0% (97∙6–98∙3) 97∙7% (97∙5–97∙9) COVID-19-related hospitalisation Age 16–44 years 2043 2∙3 26 0∙0 98∙1% (97∙0–98∙8) 98∙1% (97∙1–98∙7) Age 45–64 years 1687 7∙4 74 0∙1 98∙3% (97∙6–98∙7) 98∙2% (97∙7–98∙6) Age ≥65 years 1826 21∙7 259 0∙5 98∙2% (97∙6–98∙7) 97∙9% (97∙6–98∙1) All ages 5556 4∙6 359 0∙2 98∙2% (97∙5–98∙7) 98∙0% (97∙7–98∙3) Severe or critical COVID-19-related hospitalisation Age 16–44 years 644 0∙7 5 0∙01 98∙9% (97∙3–99∙6) 99∙0% (97∙5–99∙6) Age 45–64 years 1132 5∙0 41 0∙1 98∙6% (97∙9–99∙0) 98∙5% (97∙9–98∙9) Age ≥65 years 1425 17∙0 160 0∙3 98∙7% (98∙1–99∙1) 98∙3% (98∙0–98∙6) All ages 3201 2∙7 206 0∙1 98∙6% (98∙0–99∙0) 98∙4% (98∙1–98∙6) COVID-19-related death Age 16–44 years 36 0∙04 0 0 100 100 Age 45–64 years 125 0∙5 10 <0∙1 96∙9% (93∙5–98∙5) 96∙5% (93∙2–98∙2) Age ≥65 years 554 6∙6 61 0∙1 98∙7% (97∙8–99∙2) 98∙2% (97∙7–98∙7) All ages 715 0∙6 71 <0∙1 98∙5% (97∙4–99∙2) 98∙1% (97∙6–98∙5) Numbers and incidence rates of outcomes are shown for unvaccinated and fully vaccinated individuals. Vaccine effectiveness estimates are % (95% CI). *Defined as people for whom at least 14 days had passed after the second dose of BNT162b2 vaccine. †Total person-days for all outcomes were 88938310 for age 16–44 years, 22734104 for age 45–64 years, 8403722 for age ≥65 years, and 120076136 for all ages. ‡Total person-days for all outcomes were 61397072 for age 16–44 years, 57 734915 for age 45–64 years, 51302672 for age ≥65 years, and 170434659 for all ages. §Model is adjusted for age group (16–24, 25–34, 35–44, 45–54, 55–64, 65–74, 75–84, and ≥85 years), sex, and calendar week. ¶Includes asymptomatic and symptomatic infections, as well as cases with positive SARS-CoV-2 tests for which the symptom interview portion of the epidemiological investigation was not completed. Table 4: Estimated effectiveness of two doses of BNT162b2 (≥14 days after the second dose) against laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 outcomes by age
