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Israeli Ministry of Health is investigating cases of myocarditis related to Biontech / Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine.
A preliminary study showed "dozens of cases" of myocarditis in more than 5 million people vaccinated, mainly after the second dose, Israeli pandemic control coordinator Nachman Ash said on Sunday.
It is unclear whether the number of people with inflammation of the heart muscle tissue is unusually high and whether this is related to the vaccine. A proof between disease and vaccine is difficult because myocarditis often runs without complications and can be caused by a variety of viruses. A similar number of cases had also been reported in recent years.
When asked by Reuters news agency, Pfizer said it is "aware of Israeli observations of the disease, most of which have occurred in young men who received the Pfizer / Biontech vaccine."
Adverse side effects are regularly and thoroughly monitored and the company has not observed any higher rates of myocarditis than would be expected in the general population.
"There is currently no evidence that myocarditis is a risk associated with the use of Pfizer / Biontech's Covid-19 vaccine."
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Israel is the world leader in vaccinating against the pandemic. Almost 60 percent of the country's 9.3 million people have so far received the vaccine from Biontech / Pfizer. The nationwide database has already shown that the vaccine prevents both Covid-19 symptoms and severe courses of the disease.