Less than 0.01 percent of people who received the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine contracted the error for a week after receiving the second shot.
Preliminary results shared by top Israeli health provider Maccabi showed that only 20 people out of the 128,600 who received both shots have been infected with the virus, Reuters reported.
The data was released during a nationwide shutdown that has been helping curb the spread to Israel, where people began receiving the first stab shots from Pfizer on December 19th.
“According to Maccabi experts, this is preliminary data, but the figures are very encouraging,” Maccabi said in a statement.
“Maccabi reports that of the 20 people infected, 50% suffer from chronic diseases. All patients experienced a mild illness with symptoms such as headaches, coughing, weakness, or fatigue. No one was hospitalized or had a fever above 38.5C. Most patients tried COVID-19 because of exposure to a verified patient, ”he added.
Israel provides Pfizer with weekly updates on its inoculation campaign under an agreement that can help other countries fine-tune their own vaccination efforts.
Maccabi head Anat Ekka Zohar said that “the fact that the infected patients came from different profiles is consistent with the results of the Pfizer trial.”
“We will closely monitor these patients to examine whether they continue to suffer only mild symptoms and do not develop complications as a result of the virus,” he added.
More than 2.6 million Israelis have received a single dose of the shot and about 1.2 million have been received, out of a population of about 9 million.
The country has reported nearly 600,000 cases and 4,478 deaths during the pandemic.