Two shots of the Pfizer vaccine is highly effective against the new and rapidly spreading delta variant of COVID-19.
A study of 19,000 people from Public Health England, published Wednesday, found that both doses of either the Pfizer or AstraZeneca vaccines offer protection against symptoms from both the alpha and delta variants.
The Pfizer vaccine has a 93.7% effectiveness rate at preventing symptomatic alpha infections, and 88% for the delta variant.
Two doses of AstraZeneca are 74.5% effective at preventing alpha infections, and 67% for the delta variant.
However, the effectiveness of the vaccines takes a significant dive if the patient only receives one dose of either vaccine.
The study found both vaccine brands to be slightly more than 48% effective against the alpha variant and only about 30% effective against the delta variant if only one dose was administered.
Those who conducted the study suggest prioritizing second doses, especially in vulnerable populations, to prevent coronavirus outbreaks effectively.
The Israeli military acknowledged on Monday that Palestinian civilians were harmed at aid distribution centres in the Gaza Strip, saying that new instructions had been issued to Israeli forces following "lessons learned".
Palestinians in northern Gaza reported one of the worst nights of Israeli bombardment in weeks after the military issued mass evacuation orders on Monday, while Israeli officials were due in Washington for a new ceasefire push by the Trump administration.
A Ukrainian F-16 fighter pilot died in a crash while repelling a Russian air attack that involved hundreds of drones, cruise and ballistic missiles, authorities said on Sunday, as Moscow intensifies night-time air barrages in the fourth year of war.
Firefighters in Turkey are battling wildfires for a second day raging in the western province of Izmir fanned by strong winds, the forestry minister and local media said on Monday.
Two firefighters were shot dead while responding to a fire in northern Idaho and the body of a man was later found with a gun nearby, the Kootenai County Sheriff's Office said on Sunday, as it lifted a shelter-in-place order.