By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News -
Israeli healthcare fund Maccabi announced Monday evening that just 0.01% of people vaccinated with both doses of the Pfizer vaccine develop symptoms of COVID-19.
Out of 128,000 Israelis who received both jabs of the vaccine from Maccabi, just 20 became sick due to the coronavirus.
If the group is representative of the vaccine’s overall efficacy, it would suggest a 99.99% success rate at preventing recipients from experiencing coronavirus symptoms.
“According to Maccabi’s experts this is preliminary data but the numbers are very encouraging,” read the statement.
“Maccabi reports that out of the 20 people infected, 50 percent suffer from chronic illnesses. All patients experienced a mild illness with symptoms including headaches, cough, weakness or fatigue. No one was hospitalized or suffered from a fever above 38.5C.”
“Most patients [were] tested for COVID-19 due to exposure to a verified patient,” the statement read.
Because the group was not tested for the coronavirus after the vaccine unless they developed symptoms, it is unclear if vaccination actually stops people from becoming infected with or transmitting the virus to others.
Pfizer’s CEO Albert Bourla confirmed in a Dateline interview that there is no data on whether or not the vaccine stops the spread of the virus.
Anat Ekka Zohar, Maccabi’s Information and Digital Health Division director, said in the statement that “the fact that the infected patients came from different profiles is consistent with Pfizer’s trial results.”
“We will monitor these patients closely in order to examine if they continue to suffer from mild symptoms only and do not develop complications as a result of the virus.”
Israel is the world leader in per capita vaccination, with some 2.6 million Israelis receiving at least one dose of the vaccine, and an estimated 1.2 million receiving both shots, out of a population of 9 million.
The Jewish state was able to obtain huge numbers of the vaccines via a data-sharing agreement with pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, in which the Israeli government promised to share data about the vaccine’s efficacy with the company.
