JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Less than 0.01% of people receiving the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine have contracted the virus more than a week after receiving the second dose, a leading Israeli healthcare provider said on Monday.
Preliminary results shared by Israeli HMO Maccabi showed that only 20 of the 128,600 people who received both shots have been infected with the COVID-19 virus.
Israel is a world leader with its rapid vaccine deployment, although the data is also released during a nationwide shutdown that has been helping to curb the spread. The Israelis began receiving the first shots of the Pfizer vaccine on December 19th.
The country provides Pfizer with weekly data updates on its vaccine campaign under a collaboration agreement that can help other countries refine their own inoculation measures.
“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 said.
Anat Ekka Zohar, director of Maccabi’s Digital Health Information and Division, 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 if they continue to have mild symptoms and do not develop complications as a result of the virus,” he said.
More than 2.6 million Israelis have received a single dose of the vaccine and about 1.2 million have been given both shots, out of a population of about 9 million.
Israel has reported nearly 600,000 virus infections and 4,478 deaths during the pandemic.
Report by Ari Rabinovitch and Dan Williams; Edited by Alex Richardson