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 major Israeli health provider said on Monday.
Preliminary results shared by Israeli HMO Maccabi showed that only 20 of the 128,600 people who received both injections were infected with the COVID-19 virus.
Israel is a world leader with its rapid deployment of vaccines, although the data also appears during a national blockade that has helped to contain contagion. The Israelis began receiving their first injections of the Pfizer vaccine on December 19.
The country is providing Pfizer with weekly updates of data on its vaccination campaign under a collaboration agreement that can help other countries adjust their own vaccination initiatives.
“According to Maccabi experts, these are preliminary data, but the numbers are very encouraging,” said Maccabi in a statement.
“Maccabi reports that of the 20 infected people, 50% suffer from chronic diseases. All patients had a mild illness with symptoms including headaches, cough, weakness or fatigue. No one was hospitalized or had a fever above 38.5 ° C. Most patients tested for COVID-19 due to exposure to a verified patient, ”he said.
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 Pfizer’s test results.”
“We will monitor these patients closely to see if they continue to suffer only from mild symptoms and do not develop complications as a result of the virus,” she said.
More than 2.6 million Israelis received a single dose of the vaccine and about 1.2 million received both vaccines, 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; Edition by Alex Richardson