US turns to Israeli military data to assess safety of recall fire

U.S. health officials are reportedly looking to IDF data to help shed light on the safety of Pfizer / BioNtech’s COVID-19 booster injections in young people, and the risks of developing heart inflammation known as the name of myocarditis.

The disease, although rare, has been linked to two-dose mRNA vaccines manufactured by Pfizer and Moderna, primarily in men under the age of 30.

U.S. Chief Medical Advisor Dr Anthony Fauci, America’s leading infectious disease expert, told Reuters on Friday that a key unanswered question was “the safety data of an mRNA in young vis -to myocarditis “.

U.S. regulators will assess the matter and the data to determine whether to grant full approval for a recall in the general population. A third jab has already been approved for Americans over 65, healthcare workers and those deemed at high risk of serious illness or death from COVID-19.

“The Israelis will have this data relatively soon because they are vaccinating everyone in the country, I think, from the age of 12, including their military recruits,” Fauci said. He added that the data could “help fill the information gap on the safety of mRNA vaccines,” which is one of the things the advisory committee is interested in, “according to the report.

Israel’s health ministry released data on Friday showing that known side effects from COVID-19 vaccines were significantly milder after the booster compared to the first two doses. Reported side effects, such as fatigue, weakness and pain in the arm where the injection was given, were all less common the third time around in all age groups, according to the ministry.

Of some 3.2 million Israelis vaccinated with a third injection of COVID-19, only 19 reported more serious side effects, the ministry said, adding that some are still being examined by experts to determine the link between side effects and vaccine.

Separately, the ministry also released data on reported cases of myocarditis in people aged 12 to 15 who had received their first and second doses of COVID-19 vaccine, saying the disease had been observed at a “rate insignificant ”.

One case was reported out of 331,538 children vaccinated with one dose of the vaccine. The boy was identified with the inflammation five days after receiving the blow, according to ministry data. And among the 255,444 children vaccinated with two doses, 11 cases of myocarditis were reported. Ten of them were men and one was a woman. They were identified with the rare disease 3 to 5 days after receiving the vaccine, the ministry said.

The ministry said all 12 were released from hospital care to be treated at home and the disease itself disappeared soon after. He added that the chances of suffering from myocarditis are less likely in older age groups and almost negligible in women.

Earlier this week, Fauci said Israel’s groundbreaking decision to offer third doses of the vaccine to its people will ultimately prove to be justified and ultimately be adopted by the United States.

Fauci said US officials were receiving information from Israel about the recall fire campaign, and that there was particular interest in data on young people, especially those from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

Speaking to Army Radio, Fauci said he believes anyone inoculated with the Pfizer vaccine would ultimately need three doses. He also agreed that would be the case for the American population, even under 65.

“I believe so,” he said, noting that he spoke in his personal and professional opinion, and that the decision in the United States to limit booster shots to people aged 65 and over or who were immunocompromised had been taken by committees and advisory groups. “I think in the end there will be enough data to show that Israel is doing the right thing. “

Fauci said he took statistics from Israel “very seriously”. “So I am very supportive of what the Israelis have done and we are getting a lot of good information from them,” he said.

The authorization to give the third vaccine to the rest of the American population, and in particular to young people, will not come until the authorities have assessed its safety.

But Fauci said he believed there would soon be “good safety data” on young people receiving the third dose.

“That’s why I watch very closely when Israel obtains its security data from young people,” he said.

Fauci said the FDA had not rejected Israeli data indicating decreased immunity to infection among all age groups around six months after vaccination, but wanted more information.

“I think they were expecting more data from more cohorts, especially in the area of ​​younger individuals,” he said.

“The benefit / risk ratio of younger people in the context of myocarditis is of great concern,” said Fauci. “We know this is a very rare event and we know the Israelis are starting to put together a huge amount of data that will actually give us a good overview of the risk, especially in vaccinating young people in your army,” a- he declared. the Israeli broadcaster.

Israel has made vaccination the cornerstone of its efforts to curb a major resurgence of viral infections after reducing the number of daily cases in June to just over a dozen.

While research suggests that immunity levels in those who have been vaccinated decline over time – an effect that can be reversed with boosters – the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is still very protective against serious illness and death, even. amid the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant.

Of the country’s estimated 9.3 million citizens, 6,123,729 received at least one vaccine, of which 5,643,997 received the second and 3,439,536 received three doses. Israel began rolling out the recall campaign at the end of July.

Israel’s health ministry released figures on Friday showing that there had been 4,313 cases diagnosed the day before, out of more than 115,000 people who have been tested for the virus.

The number of severe cases, considered a key indicator of the virus outbreak, also fell to 607, the lowest level since August 20 when there were 618.

There were 45,412 active patients in the country, according to the data.

Since the pandemic began last year, 1,285,570 people in Israel have been diagnosed with COVID-19, and there have been 7,766 deaths from the disease as of Friday.

The numbers came as Israel emerges from the month-long festival period when officials feared cases could climb due to family reunions and large prayer services in synagogues. However, the holidays have so far not interrupted a slight downward trend in the virus spread over the past week.

Agencies contributed to this report.