More than 2.9 million Israelis have elected to get a third shot of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine. One health fund, Maccabi Health Services, has released a report of the side effects that some of its clients experienced after the shot.
In a survey published Monday of 9,222 individuals over the age of 18 (41% men and 59% women), the health fund showed that while the majority of people experienced some side effects from the vaccine, none of them were life-threatening and they usually went away within one to three days.
The survey was taken between September 3 and 6, 2021.
Half the people said the side effects were worse for the third shot than the second, and half of them said they were the same or not as bad.
With regards to general side effects, 57% reported weakness and fatigue, 36% headache, 26% muscle pain, 19% swelling of their lymph nodes, 14% joint pain, 18% a fever of up to 38°C and 9% a fever over 38°C. Some 27% said they had no general side effects.
The vast majority of people who were inoculated (87%) experienced pain at the site of injection. Another 18% experienced swelling, 6% redness and 4% tingling; 9% had no issues at the site of injection.
How quickly do the side effects go away?
For 43% of people, they were gone in a day; for 41% of people they were gone in two to three days. Another 17% said that the side effects lasted longer.
The good news: 96% of third shot recipients who answered the survey said they did not need to get any medical assistance or advice to deal with the side effects.