Pfizer Learning About New Coronavirus Vaccine Side Effects from Its Use in Israel
So explained Professor Galia Rahav, the director of the infectious disease prevention unit at Sheba Hospital.
Professor Galia Rahav, the director of the infectious disease prevention unit at Sheba Hospital. Facebook
Israel has offered a wealth of information to Pfizer about its Coronavirus vaccine, from its efficacy to side effects as they appear in different demographic segments of the population. This according to Professor Galia Rahav, the director of the infectious disease prevention unit at Sheba Medical Center.
This, in effect, confirms the concerns of those who have said that the Israeli government only acquired enough does of the Covid vaccinations so quickly because it agree to allow Pfizer to use the Israeli population as guinea pigs, so to speak.
Just recently concerns were raised by the Helsinki Committee, the statutory body which oversees human medical trials in Israel. This came after Israeli authorities released a redacted copy of a the contract it signed with Pfizer in which Israel agreed to provide the company with its public medical data in return for the swift supply of Covid-19 vaccines.
Professor Eytan Friedman, chairman of the Helsinki Committee, said at the time that, “we want to ensure that the committee is doing its job maintaining medical ethics, and making sure the rights and privacy of Israeli citizens are being protected also when clinical research, not trials, are being held. We do want to learn the results of the vaccination campaign and what the side effects are.”
Well Professor Galia Rahav spoke with Israel’s Reshet Bet radio on Tuesday and elaborated on just what medical information has been provided to Pfizer by Israeli authorities.
Apparently some Israelis have exhibited certain adverse side effects which had not previously been known to Pfizer. Some of these include paralysis of the facial nerve and an abnormal sensation of the skin involving tingling, pricking, chilling, burning, and numbness known as paresthesia.
Professor Rahav said that, “Only now are we learning about the effectiveness of the vaccine in real life. In everyday life, you learn different things, the efficiency is a little different. When we vaccinate 2.5 million people at once, clearly we’ll see all kinds of phenomena occurring.”
The professor also said that Israel’s current lockdown should continue because “Both infection and death rates [in Israel] are still high and I am unable to see how we are going to end the lockdown.”
“I think the lockdown should be extended by an additional week, unless the numbers miraculously change by the weekend,” added Rahav.
Professor Galia Rahav is the Head of the Infectious Disease Unit and Laboratories at the Sheba Medical Center. Professor. Rahav earned her M.D. from the Hebrew University Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem and has specialization certificates in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases, and Clinical Microbiology.
Professor . Rahav was previously a Sr. lecturer at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem. Currently she is an Associate Prof. of Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases at the Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University. She is an invited lecturer at Veterinary Medical School, Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases.
Professor Rahav also serves as a consultant in Infectious Diseases to the three largest Health Funds in Israel. With her extensive academic and clinical studies experience, she is an active participant in international conferences and has many academic and scientific publications. She is the recipient of both awards and grants in Israel and abroad for her work.
Read more about: Coronavirus, Professor Galia Rahav
