JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Less than 0.01% of people receiving the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine contracted the virus more than a week after receiving the second dose, an Israeli healthcare provider said on Monday.
Preliminary results shared by HMO Maccabi of Israel showed that only 20 of the approximately 128,600 people who received both shots have since been infected with the COVID-19 virus.
Israel is a world leader in the rapid launch of vaccines, although data also appear during a nationwide deadlock that helped stop the contagion. Israelis began receiving the first photos of the Pfizer vaccine on December 19.
The country provides Pfizer with weekly updates on its vaccination campaign under a collaboration agreement that could help other countries adjust their own inoculation actions.
“According to Maccabi experts, these are preliminary data, but the figures are very encouraging,” Maccabi said in a statement.
“Maccabi reports that of the 20 infected people, 50% suffer from chronic diseases. All patients presented with a mild illness with symptoms, including headache, cough, weakness, or fatigue. No one was hospitalized or had a fever above 38.5C. Most patients tested for COVID-19 due to exposure to a verified patient, ”he said.
Anat Ekka Zohar, director of Maccabi’s Digital Information and Health Division, said that “the fact that infected patients come from different profiles is consistent with the results of Pfizer studies.”
“We will closely monitor these patients to see if they continue to have only mild symptoms and do not develop complications from the virus,” she said.
More than 2.6 million Israelis received a single dose of vaccine and about 1.2 million received both shots, out of a population of about 9 million.
Israel reported about 600,000 virus infections and 4,478 deaths during the pandemic.
Reporting by Ari Rabinovitch and Dan Williams; Edited by Alex Richardson