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Hundreds of thousands of healthcare workers in the US and the UK are starting to receive the COVID-19 Pfizer vaccine.
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So far, there have been at least 4 reports of life-threatening allergic reactions shortly after people received their first blows.
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Two allergic reactions occurred in the UK last week and another 2 were recorded at a hospital in Alaska this week.
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It is not yet clear what causes the reactions.
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The FDA says people should refrain from vaccination only if they have had a severe allergic reaction to the ingredients in this specific vaccine or have reacted to a previous dose of Pfizer coronavirus vaccine.
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At least four people had allergic reactions shortly after receiving the new COVID-19 Pfizer vaccine in the United States and the United Kingdom.
But this does not necessarily mean that people with food allergies or who wear epi pens should be concerned when getting vaccinated against coronavirus.
Data to date suggests that this vaccine is safe for the vast majority of people with allergies who receive it. It is not yet completely clear why these four known reactions occurred or whether they were related to the administration of the vaccine.
Four allergic reactions, among hundreds of thousands of vaccinations
Last week, two employees of the UK National Health Service developed life-threatening allergic reactions after receiving their first photos with Pfizer. They both recovered after receiving a shot of epinephrine.
This week, two more people, this time in Alaska, had allergic reactions shortly after receiving the Pfizer vaccine. Both were set on fire at Bartlett Regional Hospital in Juneau.
One of these people had no history of allergic reactions and had to be hospitalized for one night. Benadryl and epinephrine did not immediately suppress his reaction, which included “increased heart rate, shortness of breath and rash and redness,” according to Juneau.
Both U.S. health care workers who reacted after receiving the vaccine in Alaska said they did not want news of their cases to discourage any of their colleagues from receiving the vaccine as the pandemic continues to hit the U.S. with more than 3,000 of COVID. -19 deaths per day. Pfizer’s hit has already shown 95% effectiveness in preventing symptomatic COVID-19 infections in studies of tens of thousands of adults of different ages and colors around the world.
For now, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommends that all those who are eligible to receive the vaccine in the U.S. (for the most part, for the time being are only health care workers and nursing home residents) be allowed to take it with two exceptions:
and
UK regulators have taken a more conservative approach, suggesting that “people with a significant history of allergic reactions do not receive this vaccination”.
But the vaccine has already been injected into more than 137,800 people in the UK, and in the United States, more than 2.9 million doses were shipped to states this week.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Thursday that 5,200 health workers in his city they have received photos since distribution began there on Monday.
Experts are still puzzled about what could happen to the four reported allergic reactions, among hundreds of thousands of vaccine administrations, because there are not many in terms of the ingredients in the vaccine that could cause an allergic reaction and not there were allergies. reactions reported in Pfizer vaccine studies. People with food allergies were allowed to participate.
Dr. Sanjeev Jain, allergist, immunologist and CEO of Columbia Allergy, previously told Insider that these people may have extremely rare allergic reactions to the polyethylene glycol component of the vaccine, but there could be something else. .
During an FDA advisory committee meeting on Thursday, Dr. Stanley Perlman, an immunologist at the University of Iowa, asked regulators about any possible explanations they gave for the allergic reactions.
“We and the CDC continue to investigate cases and consider the data,” FDA vaccine expert Doran Fink said at the hearing. “At this time, we do not have enough information to make definitive recommendations in one way or another, and as we continue to investigate and evaluate the data, we will consider whether additional recommendations need to be made.”
The Modern COVID-19 vaccine, which is also expected to receive FDA approval later this week, had no anaphylaxis or allergic reactions even after photos were taken in its process. That vaccine is expected to become the second authorized emergency vaccine in the United States to prevent symptomatic COVID-19 infections and could be accepted as early as Friday.
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