Coronavirus: Israeli data supports effectiveness of Pfizer vaccine – Maccabi

Less than 0.01% of people who received Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine contracted the virus more than a week after receiving the second dose, a leading Israeli health care provider said on Monday. Preliminary results shared by Israeli HMO Maccabi showed that only 20 people came out of the 128,600 who received the two vaccines have since been infected with the COVID-19 virus. Israel is a world leader with its rapid deployment of vaccines, although the data comes from also a national lockdown which helped stem the contagion. The Israelis began receiving the first injections of Pfizer’s vaccine on December 19. The country is providing Pfizer with weekly immunization campaign data updates as part of a collaborative arrangement that could help other countries refine their own immunization campaigns. “According to Maccabi experts, this is preliminary data, but the numbers are very encouraging,” Maccabi said in a statement. “Maccabi reports that of the 20 people infected, 50% have chronic illnesses. All patients have had mild illness with symptoms such as headache, cough, weakness, or no one was hospitalized or suffered from a fever above 38.5 ° C. The fact that the infected patients were from different profiles is consistent with the results of Pfizer testing.

“We will be monitoring these patients closely to see if they continue to have mild symptoms and do not develop complications from the virus,” she said. More than 2.6 million Israelis have received a single dose of the vaccine and about 1.2 million people have received both vaccines, out of a population of around 9 million. Israel has reported around 600,000 viral infections and 4,478 deaths during the pandemic.