COVID: AstraZeneca to be given to those who had side-effects from Pfizer

• Published date: 11 October 2021
• Author: ROSSELLA TERCATIN
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

"Our directive will be that a person's doctor will decide when it is appropriate to use this vaccine as opposed to the Pfizer or Moderna [mRNA] vaccines that we have been using in Israel," Zarka said.

A supply of AstraZeneca vaccines is already in the country, and they will be delivered to the healthcare providers in the coming days, he said.

"In general, this vaccine is meant for those who experienced side effects, even not a lot, and therefore there was a medical decision not to give them the third shot by Moderna or Pfizer so that they can protect themselves and receive the vaccine by AstraZeneca," he added.

The vaccine by AstraZeneca is based on a different technology than Pfizer's and Moderna's, which are both messenger RNA vaccines. AstraZeneca uses a weakened animal virus as a viral vector, and it contains the coronavirus spike protein so that the body's cells will be able to recognize it and produce antibodies.

It has received emergency approval from the European Medicines Agency and other health bodies, but not from the US Food and Drug Administration.

Also on Monday, a day after the Green Class outline began to be implemented, the number of students in isolation after being exposed to a verified coronavirus carrier did not decrease, but rather slightly rose, the Health Ministry reported.

As of Sunday morning, there were about 72,000 schoolchildren in quarantine for this reason, in addition to 14,000 infected with the disease themselves. Some 24 hours later, the ministry's report showed that the respective figures were 75,000 and 13,000. The number of students in quarantine is expected to decrease in the coming days, the ministry said.

The new rules came into effect on Sunday in cities and neighborhoods that are labeled as green under the Health Ministry's Traffic Light model, which is based on their level of morbidity and other parameters. Currently, 146 out of 280 areas in the country are green.

Under the program, schoolchildren who are exposed to a verified patient do not have to automatically enter quarantine. Rather, they need to take a PCR test and, if found to be negative, undergo a rapid antigen test at home every day for a week...