Effectiveness of the BNT162b2 Covid-19 Vaccine against the B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 Variants

Abstract

The messenger RNA vaccine BNT162b2 (Pfizer–BioNTech) has 95% efficacy against coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).¹ Qatar launched a mass immunization campaign with this vaccine on December 21, 2020. As of March 31, 2021, a total of 385,853 persons had received at least one vaccine dose and 265,410 had completed the two doses. Vaccination scale-up occurred as Qatar was undergoing its second and third waves of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, which were triggered by expansion of the B.1.1.7 variant (starting in mid-January 2021) and the B.1.351 variant (starting in mid-February 2021). The B.1.1.7 wave peaked during the first week of March, and the rapid expansion of B.1.351 started in mid-March and continues to the present day. Viral genome sequencing conducted from February 23 through March 18 indicated that 50.0% of cases of Covid-19 in Qatar were caused by B.1.351 and 44.5% were caused by B.1.1.7. Nearly all cases in which virus was sequenced after March 7 were caused by either B.1.351 or B.1.1.7.