ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) – A Fairbanks clinician suffered anaphylactic symptoms after being given the Pfizer Inc coronavirus vaccine, a hospital said on Friday, becoming the third medical worker in Alaska to suffer an adverse reaction to the new drug.
The clinician, whose name has not been released, began showing symptoms about 10 minutes after he was inoculated Thursday, according to Foundation Health Partners, an operator of Fairbanks Memorial Hospital.
The health worker was treated in the hospital’s emergency room with epinephrine and released about six hours later, Foundation Health Partners said in a written statement.
Two health workers in Juneau suffered side effects from the drug earlier this week. One of them was briefly hospitalized in that city for anaphylaxis after being vaccinated on Tuesday. The second had a milder reaction on Wednesday and was treated at the hospital’s emergency room and released.
“Allergic reactions, although uncommon, can occur with injections of drugs and vaccines,” said Dr. Angelique Ramirez, medical director of the Health Partners Foundation.
The Fairbanks clinician issued his own statement which was included in the Foundation Health Partners version.
“I would receive the vaccine and recommend it to anyone, despite my reaction, to help our country immunize, which is necessary for the health of all Americans, for the economy, to make families embrace again, to bring back children. to schools and to put the country on the other side of this pandemic, “the health worker said.
Alaska received its first deliveries of the Pfizer vaccine Sunday night, state officials said. The lots were shipped across the state, including by seaplane and boat to more distant locations.
Yereth Rosen’s report in Anchorage; Editing by Dan Whitcomb and Tom Brown