The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine has proven 94 percent effective in the first peer-reviewed real-world research involving 1.2 million people in Israel. The study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Wednesday.

Data showed that two doses of the shot cut symptomatic COVID-19 cases by 94 percent across all age groups, and severe illnesses by nearly as much. It also showed a single shot was 57 percent effective in protecting against symptomatic infections after two weeks.

(With input from Reuters, AFP)