The UK Medicines Authority has stated that anyone with a history of ‘significant’ allergic reactions to medicines, food or vaccines should not receive the Pfizer test for coronavirus.
Dr June Raine, chief executive of the MHRA, told Parliament’s science and technology committee that this had not been identified in the studies.
“We know from very extensive clinical trials that this was not a feature,” she said.
Allergic reactions to the vaccine are “very rare,” according to studies involving more than 40,000 people.
Pfizer found a “very small number” during third-phase clinical trials, which found 137 of 19,000 people. This was compared with a comparable 111 from a group of the same size that did not receive the vaccine.
They also identified 12 possible side effects of the vaccine, seven of which were identified as “very common”, meaning that it could affect more than one in ten people. Below are the known side effects.
The patient’s safety leaflet for the vaccine warns that anyone allergic to any of the active substances in the vaccine should not receive the jab.
It adds: “Signs of an allergic reaction may include itchy rash, difficulty breathing and swelling of the face or tongue.”
Allergic reactions to the vaccine are:
Very common (May affect more than one in ten people)
Usually (It may affect up to one in ten people)
Uncommon (May affect one in 100 people)