On February 28, 2021, Israel’s Ministry of Health alerted health authorities on both sides of the Atlantic to an emerging cardiac safety signal following the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine.
The warning came just over two months after Israel had launched one of the fastest vaccination campaigns in the world, placing the country at the forefront of the global rollout.
That day, the Ministry informed the European Medicines Agency that it was investigating a “safety signal of myocarditis/peri-myocarditis in the younger population (16–30 years old)” and had already received reports of around 40 cases. A CDC internal tasking memo from the same day recorded that Israel was seeing “a large number of reports of myocarditis, particularly in young people,” and was seeking contacts at the CDC and FDA to discuss the issue. The message was marked “Importance: High.”
Three days later, Dr. Roee Singer, Deputy Director of Epidemiology at Israel’s Ministry of Health, wrote directly to the CDC: “We are seeing a large number of myocarditis and pericarditis cases in young individuals soon after Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. We would like to discuss the issue with a relevant expert at CDC.”
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