Less than 0.01 percent of people who received the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine made the mistake more than a week after receiving their second sting.
Preliminary results shared by leading Israeli healthcare provider Maccabi showed that only 20 people out of about 128,600 who received both shots have since been infected with the virus, Reuters reports.
The data was released during a nationwide shutdown that helps stem the tide in Israel, where people began getting the first shots of Pfizer’s stab on December 19th.
“According to Maccabi experts, this is preliminary data, but the numbers are very encouraging,” Maccabi said in a statement.
“Maccabi reports that 50% of the 20 people infected suffer from chronic diseases. All patients experienced a mild illness with symptoms such as headache, cough, weakness or fatigue. No one was admitted to hospital or had a fever above 38.5C. “Most patients have been tested for COVID-19 due to exposure to a verified patient,” he added.
Israel provides Pfizer with its weekly vaccination campaign under an agreement that could help other countries refine their own vaccination efforts.
Maccabi official Anat Ekka Zohar said “the fact that the infected patients come from different profiles is in line with Pfizer’s results.”
“We will closely monitor these patients to see if they suffer from mild symptoms only and do not develop complications due to the virus,” she added.
More than 2.6 million Israelis received a single dose of the shot and about 1.2 million were both given, out of a population of about 9 million.
The country reported about 600,000 cases and 4,478 deaths during the pandemic.