Fact check: No evidence that the vaccine for COVID-19 caused fatalities in Israel
By Reuters Staff
6 MIN READ
A video shared on social media says the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for COVID-19 has caused fatal reactions in recipients from Israel. However, there is no evidence to support this claim.
Reuters Fact Check. REUTERS
The clip, shared to Facebook on Feb. 7 (
here), was originally posted to YouTube a week earlier by an Israel-based blogger (
here) who records his opinions of domestic affairs and religion (
here). In his footage, the video blogger makes numerous claims about the Pfizer/BioNTech mRNA vaccine, such as it not being “so friendly” as “it has killed several people”. Other claims are outside the scope of this check.
“What our government, the government of Israel, is doing, is quite evil,” he says. “In withholding this information from the citizens of this nation, there are people that are reacting negatively and dying after getting this vaccine, both the first and second dose. I’m not no medical expert, but I’ll tell you – to me, I see something extremely dangerous.”
To make his point, the man plays a five-minute clip from an English-language radio show in which the host reads out a list of names – said to be those of people who died after getting vaccinated.
According to the host (
here), most of the names are taken from an unofficial website that aggregates reports of such deaths (
here). This website uses personal Facebook testimonies from family members and friends of the deceased (
bit.ly/3tGsgL1,
bit.ly/3tGbewu), and in some cases, news reports (
bit.ly/3jvQRxn). The testimonies do not offer evidence of a causal link between vaccination and death; they offer a personal timeline of a vaccination dose being given, and a death that occurred afterwards. In at least one case listed on the website, the death happened after a diagnosis of COVID-19 (
bit.ly/3jvQRxn).
In Israel, the Ministry of Health has an official form for anyone who experiences an adverse side-effect of the vaccine (
here). As of Jan. 21, the Israeli Association of Allergy and Clinical Immunology said 20 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine had been administered worldwide, with just a few serious adverse reactions and “not a single case of mortality” (
here).
A Jan. 27 report from the health ministry detailed vaccine side-effects, and said most seen in Israel were “mild and transient” and were “similar in their frequency and character to the symptoms reported after other vaccines were given to the population” (
bit.ly/3cWP2Zn). This included effects such as pain at the site of injection or a headache (
here). One area of concern involved several cases of anaphylactic shock – a treatable, but severe allergic reaction. This sort of reaction is extremely rare, and no fatalities had been reported (
here).
Several other countries, including Norway, Germany and Belgium recently reported deaths occurring after a COVID-19 vaccine was administered, but none have been found to have a causal link (
here,
here,
here).
According to the World Health Organization's Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 mRNA vaccine is safe and effective, although there are some populations for whom vaccination is not recommended (
here,
here).
On Feb. 9, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said more than 97% of COVID-related deaths in Israel in the previous month were in people who had not been vaccinated against the disease (
here).
VERDICT
False. There is no evidence the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine has caused any fatal reactions among recipients in Israel.