Return to Flying Duties Following a COVID-19 Booster Dose

INTRODUCTION: Israel began vaccinating with the booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in July 2021, before the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized the vaccine in September 2021. The first and second vaccines were shown to have several side effects that could possibly affect aircrews' fitness to fly. Thus, the Israel Air Force (IAF) decided on a disqualification period of 24 h following the first vaccine, and 48 h following the second vaccine. The aim of this study was to determine the disqualification period following the booster dose of the vaccine.METHODS: A survey was conducted among IAF aviators in the Aeromedical Center (AMC) in order to characterize the side effects and their duration following a Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine booster dose.RESULTS: The most common local side effect was injection site pain. The most common systemic side effects were general weakness, fatigue, and myalgia. Duration of side effects was up to 48 h from vaccine administration among the majority of aircrew members.CONCLUSION: The IAF AMC policy for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine booster dose recipients is to disqualify from flight for 48 h following the vaccination.Ekshtein A, Hay G, Shapira S, Ben-Ari O.