First results on Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine are encouraging, according to Israeli HMO

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – 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 the Israeli HMO Maccabi showed that only 20 of the 128,600 people who received the two vaccines have since been infected with the COVID-19 virus.

Israel is a world leader with its rapid vaccine rollout, although the data also comes from a nationwide lockdown that has helped stem the contagion. The Israelis began receiving the first vaccines from Pfizer 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% suffer from chronic diseases. All the patients presented mild illness with symptoms such as headache, cough, weakness or fatigue. No one has been hospitalized or suffered from a fever above 38.5 ° C. Most of the patients have been tested for COVID-19 due to exposure to a verified patient, ”he said. he declares.

Anat Ekka Zohar, director of Maccabi’s Information and Digital Health Division, said that “the fact that infected patients come from different profiles is consistent with the results of Pfizer’s trial.”

“We will be monitoring these patients closely to determine if they continue to have only mild symptoms and if they do not develop complications as a result of the virus,” she said.

More than 2.6 million Israelis have received a single dose of the vaccine and about 1.2 million 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.