Thread by @_lewisy

Excited to see our paper published by @CDCMMWR!
Great collaboration with the amazing @EhudR4 🙏
We showed the population-level effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccination in preventing severe disease requiring mechanical ventilation.
Short explainer👇
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bit.ly/MMWR22621

We analysed the publicly available COVID-19 vaccination and cases data from Israel, and compared the daily number of ventilated patients in the highly vaccinated >70 age group with the under-50 age group (low vaccine coverage).
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The ratio of COVID-19 patients over 70 years old to patients under 50 years old requiring mechanical ventilation decreased by 67% as compared with rates before the vaccination program.
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The time frame included the Oct 2020 and the Dec-Jan 2021 surge in COVID-19 in Israel. Before vaccination campaign started, over-70’s requiring mechanical ventilation outnumbered under-50 age group by about 6:1.
By the first week of Feb this was down to less than 2:1
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There are limitations to our study which we detailed in the article. For instance, a possible explanation may be stricter adherence to mitigation by the older age group (strict lockdown instituted in Israel on Jan 8).
We didn't see this reduction in ratio during Oct lockdown
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Our hypothesis of vaccine protection from severe COVID is in agreement with by all of the other amazing research that was published on vaccine effect in Israel:
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-Patient level research published yesterday by @RanBalicer in the @NEJM, and preliminary data from Maccabi Research and Israel MoH.
-Population level studies from @segal_eran @ShalitUri @H_Rossman @GazitDoron @erlichya @dvir_a
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Bottom line is extremely simple: get vaccinated and not ventilated.
#VaxNotVent

cc: @EricTopol @DrTomFrieden @kakape @edyong209 @HelenBranswell @Nadav_Eyal @AsafRonel