Israel: "Booster Shot 'Adverse Reactions' Significantly Fewer Than After Second Dose"

Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received the third dose (booster shot) of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine on the 30th (local time) in Tel Aviv. Israel became the first country in the world to start administering booster shots to elderly people aged 60 and over. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghoon Jeong] According to local media reports, Israel, which has implemented additional COVID-19 vaccinations (booster shots), showed significantly fewer adverse reactions compared to the second dose.

According to statistics from the Israeli Ministry of Health, the number of 'common adverse reactions' after receiving a booster shot with Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine was 86.6 cases per 1 million doses, which is one-third of the 271.8 cases per 1 million doses observed after the second dose. Common adverse reactions include fatigue, fever, headache, muscle pain, chills, dizziness, vomiting, nausea, abdominal pain, and lymphadenopathy.

Among the approximately 3.2 million people who have received the booster shot in Israel so far, there have been 26 reported cases of serious side effects.

The Israeli authorities classify serious side effects as those that threaten life or result in death, require long-term hospitalization, cause permanent disability, congenital defects in fetuses, or require emergency medical intervention. Israel began administering booster shots to immunocompromised individuals and the elderly in July, before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval, and later expanded the target group to those aged 12 and older.

Because of this, there were significant concerns about the side effects of the booster shot in Israel. Cases of myocarditis, a side effect feared during vaccination of children and adolescents aged 12 to 15, were very rare. So far, among approximately 331,000 first-dose recipients aged 12 to 15, there was only one case of myocarditis, and among about 255,000 second-dose recipients, 11 cases were confirmed.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.