US officials report more severe allergic reactions to COVID-19 vaccines

(Reuters) – The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Wednesday it was closely monitoring allergic reactions to coronavirus vaccines from Pfizer Inc. and Moderna Inc. and urged people who had a severe reaction not to receive a second dose.

In a conference with reporters, the US public health agency said that allergic reactions occur at a rate of 11.1 to 1 million vaccinations. Compared to influenza vaccines, in which such reactions occur at a rate of 1.3 to 1 million photos.

Severe reactions are still “extremely rare,” they said, stressing the need to vaccinate people when shots become available, given the threat of death and serious illness caused by the coronavirus, which has already claimed more than 357,000 lives in the United States alone.

The CDC said it is closely monitoring incidents of allergic reactions and plans to post weekly updates on its website.

The Agency also calls for vaccine delivery sites to be prepared not only to recognize serious allergic reactions, known as anaphylaxis, but to be instructed on how to treat them and to recognize when people need to be targeted. to hospitals for additional care.

CDC officials said 28 people who received the coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech had severe allergic reactions. They also noticed a case of anaphylaxis, which can cause swelling of the throat and difficulty breathing after a person received the Moderna vaccine.

Officials attributed the difference largely to the fact that the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine was authorized earlier than the Modern shot and said that precautions apply to both.

A study published Wednesday in the CDC’s weekly report on deaths and illness on cases between December 14 and December 23 identified 21 cases of anaphylaxis after administration of 1,893,360 doses of Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine. Of these, 71% occurred within 15 minutes of vaccination.

The UK health regulator has said that anyone with a history of anaphylaxis or severe allergic reactions to a medicine or food will not be given the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine.