A few words: 13 Israelis suffered posterior paralysis after receiving the new crown vaccine, is it a coincidence or an adverse reaction

Niu Niu: I heard that at least 13 Israelis developed "facial paralysis" after receiving the new coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer Pharmaceuticals of the United States. Is this true?

Binghai: Yes, those 13 people did get paralysis after getting the vaccine, that's absolutely true. But this may just be a chronological relationship, and coincidence cannot be ruled out. For example, if you get facial paralysis today, you will definitely wonder if it was caused by something you did in the past. If you got a certain vaccine, you will think the vaccine is the cause; if you love eating crayfish, maybe your parents will think that it's because you eat crayfish that you get facial paralysis. It's still impossible to confirm the causal relationship.

Niu Niu: What you mean is nothing more than: the relationship of sequence is not necessarily a causal relationship, which is easy to understand. But I also checked that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) disclosed in December 2020 that four participants reported this Bell's palsy (a temporary facial paralysis) in the third phase of the Pfizer vaccine trial. In the end, the U.S. drug regulator concluded that there was no clear evidence that the new crown vaccine was related to the facial paralysis that occurred. However, the FDA still recommends "monitoring cases of Bell's palsy by vaccinating a larger population." So do you still think that the adverse reactions of facial paralysis that occurred one after another are coincidental?

Binghai: Then let me ask, do you know the total number of people participating in late-stage vaccine trials in the report disclosed by the US FDA?

Niu Niu: I checked and found that according to a briefing from the FDA on December 10, 2020, four vaccinated participants out of 44,000 participants in a late-stage vaccine trial were reported to have this temporary facial paralysis, while none in the placebo group.

Binghai: So in the late stage of FDA trials, the incidence of this facial paralysis was about one in ten thousand. Israel has vaccinated 1 million people with the new crown vaccine, most of whom are Pfizer's new crown vaccine, so the incidence of facial paralysis is about one in one hundred thousand. The incidence of this facial paralysis in the general population is 20 in one hundred thousand. In addition to coincidental diseases, the adverse reactions to vaccination also include psychogenic reactions. This reaction has nothing to do with the vaccine, but with the injection behavior, so the World Health Organization calls it an injection reaction. Epidemiological surveys have shown that psychogenic reactions account for about half of the reports of adverse reactions after mass vaccination. The most common are autonomic dysfunction disorders such as headache, dizziness, fatigue, and nausea, and clinical examinations are normal.

Niu Niu: So what you mean is that Pfizer’s vaccine will not cause facial paralysis?

Ice Sea: The possibility of coincidence and injection reaction cannot be ruled out, and further monitoring and research are needed to prove it. But shouldn't you also pay attention to the tangible benefits of vaccination for Israelis? Israel compared the positive rates of COVID-19 tests for 200,000 vaccinated people over the age of 60 and 200,000 unvaccinated people. Until the 14th day, there was almost no difference between the two groups. But after that, data showed that the infection rate of vaccinated people fell by 33% compared with unvaccinated people.

Niu Niu: So is it possible for Israel to really be the first country in the world to achieve herd immunity?

Ice Sea: It is possible. According to previous calculations by the medical community, without considering major changes in the basic transmission rate caused by virus mutations, as long as 60% to 70% of the population becomes immune, herd immunity against the new coronavirus may be achieved. Israel is currently mainly purchasing Pfizer's mRNA vaccine. According to the efficacy claimed by Pfizer, herd immunity can be achieved after approximately 65%-75% of the population is vaccinated. Israel's current vaccination rate is about 60,000 people per day. Officials say that vaccination of people over 16 years old will be completed in March. The Prime Minister of Israel directly declared that Israel will be the first country in the world to get rid of the new coronavirus epidemic. And this prime minister is also the first vaccine recipient in their country, and he was vaccinated on December 20, 2020.

Niu Niu: I still insist that we must pay close attention to adverse reactions. Of course, there must be people who are doing this. Also, it is better to be cautious in some things, and in some cases, you don’t have to compete for the first place.