A pharmacist holds a vial with the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine on the opening day of a vaccination center at the Festhalle in Frankfurt, Germany, Germany January 19, 2021. Boris Roessler/Pool via REUTERS
A number of recipients of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine in Israel have tested positive for COVID-19, even after getting the two prescribed doses, raising concerns for the efficacy of the vaccine.
- Israel launched its vaccination programme on Jan 19, having vaccinated over 2 million people with their first shot of the Pfizer vaccine and 400,000 with their second.
- Out of 189,000 tested after receiving the vaccine shots, 12,400 people have tested positive for COVID-19, 69 of whom were infected after they received the second dose.
- Israel’s coronavirus commissioner, Nachman Ash, expressed concerns over the effectiveness of the vaccine as claimed by Pfizer and cautioned that it may not be able to protect against new strains of the virus.
- A single dose of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine appeared to be "less effective than we had thought," Ash told the media on Tuesday.
- Pfizer claimed that its vaccine is 52% effective after the first dose, the percentage increases to 95% a few days after the second dose.
- According to Clalit, Israel’s largest health provider, the chance of a person being infected with the coronavirus dropped by 33%, 2 weeks after they were vaccinated.
- BBC reported that the Israeli Ministry of Health has said that the "the comments of the Israeli COVID-19 commissioner regarding the effect of the first dose of the vaccine were out of context and, therefore, inaccurate.”, adding that the full protective impact of the vaccine was expected to be seen soon.
- Israel suffers a rise in infections as the country is already in its third lockdown, with more than half a million cases and 4,245 deaths.
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