UK Health Sec. on single shot vaccine efficiency

Two U.K. studies released Monday showed that COVID-19 vaccination programs are contributing to a sharp drop in hospitalizations, boosting hopes that the shots will work as well in the real world as they have in carefully controlled studies.

Preliminary results from a study in Scotland found that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine reduced hospital admissions by up to 85% four weeks after the first dose, while the Oxford-AstraZeneca shot cut admissions by up to 94%.

In England, preliminary data from a study of health care workers showed that the Pfizer vaccine reduced the risk of catching COVID-19 by 70% after one dose, a figure that rose to 85% after the second.

British health secretary Matt Hancock said the findings may explain why hospital admissions among COVID patients above the age of 80 had fallen to single figures over the past couple of weeks.

"This is seriously encouraging," he said during a briefing at Downing St.