A study, led by Yftach Gepner, along with Dan Yamin and Erez Shmueli of the Tel Aviv University (TAU) developed an innovative device that improves the safety of vaccines.
The topic became relevant especially since the COVID-19 pandemic, in which the world faced a need for a vaccination rapid and massive, and in that process, concerns about their safety and their possible side effects increased.
The Israeli TAU team used sensors, developed by Petah Tikva-based company Biobeat, which they placed on the participants' chests, allowing them to measure 13 different physiological parameters, including heart and breathing rates, oxygen levels in the blood, temperature and blood pressure.
The results showed a significant discrepancy between volunteer-reported side effects and objectively measured side effects. Many volunteers claimed to have experienced no reactions and yet suffered physiological changes.
Additionally, the study found that side effects peaked during the first 48 hours after vaccination, then returned to levels measured before vaccine administration.
Gepner, of the Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine at the Sackler School of Medicine, explained that “in most methods used today, clinical trials designed to evaluate the safety of a new drug or vaccine employ self-report questionnaires, asking participants how they feel before and after receiving the treatment.”