Haas EJ, Angulo FJ, McLaughlin JM, et al. - Following the emergency use authorization of the Pfizer–BioNTech mRNA COVID-19 vaccine BNT162b2 (international nonproprietary name tozinameran) in Israel, a campaign was launched by the Ministry of Health (MoH) to immunize the 6·5 million residents of Israel aged 16 years and older. Researchers herein analyzed national surveillance data from the first 4 months of the nationwide vaccination campaign with the aim to investigate the real-world effectiveness of two doses of BNT162b2 against a range of SARS-CoV-2 outcomes as well as to evaluate the nationwide public-health impact following the widespread introduction of the vaccine. Findings suggest great effectiveness of two doses of BNT162b2 across all age groups (≥ 16 years, including older adults aged ≥ 85 years) in preventing symptomatic and asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections and COVID-19-related hospitalizations, severe disease, and death, including those caused by the B.1.1.7 SARS-CoV-2 variant. Marked and sustained declines were recorded in SARS-CoV-2 incidence corresponding to increasing vaccine coverage. Findings thereby suggest COVID-19 vaccination as valuable to control the pandemic.