Coronavirus Watch: Pfizer vaccine appears effective against asymptomatic cases

There is good news out of Israel: New data suggests that COVID-19 vaccines can prevent transmission of the coronavirus, in addition to protecting against symptomatic disease.

The information is preliminary but based on the real-world data. More than half of adults in Israel have been vaccinated, most with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, and the numbers showed those who received the vaccine did not develop symptoms or transmit the disease. 

"It looks like 90% reduction in asymptomatic transmission. So that's really good," said Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine, at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

It's Friday, and this is the Coronavirus Watch from the Paste BN Network. Here's more news you need to know:

• President Joe Biden announced in his primetime address Thursday that the goal is for a return to small group gatherings by the Fourth of July. In order to do so, he said he would require all states, territories and tribes to make all adults eligible to "get in line" for their vaccines by May 1.
• But that doesn't mean all adults will get their vaccine immediately, White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Jeff Zients said Friday.
• Zients also said that in order to meet that goal, they were ramping up the number of vaccinators and vaccines sites over the coming weeks.
• Another COVID-19 candidate vaccine appears to be 96.4% effective against mild, moderate and severe disease caused by the original COVID-19 strain in a United Kingdom trial.
• Some European countries have suspended their use of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine after reports of blood clots in some people, even though there is no evidence the shot is responsible. Denmark said it was doing so “based on a precautionary principle.” Thailand has also joined the European countries by delaying its use of the vaccine.

Today's numbers: The U.S. has reported more than 29.2 million COVID-19 cases and 530,900 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Worldwide, there have been more than 118.7 million cases and more than 2.6 million deaths. In the U.S., more than 19% of people have received at least one vaccine shot, and more than 10% of people are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.

See the numbers in your area here, check out where cases are rising here, and see how many vaccines your state has received here.

– Ryan Miller, Paste BN NOW reporter, @RyanW_Miller