Right injection, wrong needle: Israel accidentally finds out if the corona vaccine will still work

About 1,000 Israelis got the right injection but with the wrong needle.

By World Israel News Staff

Does the coronavirus vaccine still work if you injected it with the wrong needle?

About 1,000 Israelis were accidentally given the Pfizer vaccine with a half-inch needle instead of a one-inch needle.

The incident occurred at one of Israel’s Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) and the army, Israel Hayom reports on Sunday.

The corona vaccine is supposed to be injected into the muscle. News that a shorter needle was used raised concern that the vaccines was given under the skin but outside the muscle.

Dr. Emilia Ennis, director of the department of epidemiology at the Ministry of Health, said “In other vaccines when there is such an event the dose is‘ not counted ’and repeated. In this case, it was decided to perform an antibody test on Thursday.”

The good news is that 603 of these vaccinated with the wrong needle were found to have a high level of antibodies after a test performed around three weeks after the first dose.

Dr. Tal Brosh, secretary of the team for treating epidemics and director of the infection prevention unit at Assuta Hospital in Ashdod said, “In subcutaneous vaccines, the immunogenicity is not harmed, but sometimes even increases.”

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control said in a recent recommendation that no additional dose is needed after a subcutaneous injection of corona vaccine.