Tel Aviv, January 21: Over 12,000 people tested positive for COVID-19 in Israel after taking Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine against the deadly virus. The development aggravated speculations over the efficacy of COVID-9 vaccine. Among the people who were diagnosed with COVID-19 after getting vaccinated, sixty-nine people were those who had taken the second jab. COVID-19 Vaccination Update: Israel Plans to Provide Coronavirus Vaccine to 2 Million People by January End.

However, the country's health ministry said that fears about the effectiveness of the vaccine were "out of context and inaccurate." As per the Israeli Health Ministry, around 189,000 people were tested for COVID-19 after getting vaccinated, and close to 6.6 percent of the people were diagnosed with coronavirus. Israel's coordinator on the pandemic Nachman Ash had said that a single dose of Pfizer/BioNTech's vaccine was less effective as expected. Israel to Speed Up COVID-19 Vaccination Due to New Strain.

Israel is one of the top countries leading the world in vaccinating people against COVID-19. Reacting to Ash's note of caution, the Israeli Ministry of Health said "the comments of the Israeli COVID-19 commissioner regarding the effect of the first dose of the vaccine were out of context and, therefore, inaccurate," according to a BBC report on Thursday. A single dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine is about 52 per cent effective, according to the company, said The Guardian report.

Israel started vaccinating on December 19, reaching 10 per cent of its population by the end of 2020. Till now, a quarter of Israel's population has reportedly received the first dose of the vaccine. As per Wion's report, 3.5 percent of the total population had received the second jab.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 21, 2021 06:57 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).