Less than 0.01% of people who received the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine contracted the error a week after receiving the second jab.
Preliminary results shared by Israel’s main health care provider, Maccabi, showed that only 20 of the approximately 128,600 people who received both shots were infected with the virus, Reuters reported.
The data was released during a nationwide blockade that helped stop the contagion in Israel, where people began receiving the first photos from Pfizer’s jab on December 19.
“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 added.
Israel offers Pfizer weekly updates on its inoculation campaign under an agreement that could help other countries adjust their own vaccination efforts.
Maccabi official Anat Ekka Zohar said that “the fact that the infected patients come from different profiles is consistent with the results of the Pfizer study.”
“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 added.
More than 2.6 million Israelis received a single dose of the shooting, and about 1.2 million received both, out of a population of about 9 million.
The country reported about 600,000 cases and 4,478 deaths during the pandemic.