A Boston doctor had an allergic reaction after receiving Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine on Thursday, according to the hospital where he works, but he is doing well.
The Boston Medical Center confirmed late on Friday that Dr. Hossein Sadrzadeh, who reportedly has a serious seafood allergy, was taken to the emergency department after his first dose of the Cambridge-based vaccine.
It is the first known allergic reaction to Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine, according to The New York Times, although other vaccines now in use have also been known to cause allergic reactions in rare cases. More than 35,000 people received the vaccine in Massachusetts on Tuesday, according to the new state panel.
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Sadrzadeh, a geriatric oncology fellow, was being watched by nurses after receiving the vaccine, following the hospital’s protocol for all recipients, when he began to feel that he was developing an allergic reaction, according to a BMC spokesman.
Sadrzadeh had his own personal EpiPen with him and used it on himself, so he was taken to the emergency room for evaluation, treatment and observation before being discharged. On Friday, he is fine, said the hospital representative.
British authorities are investigating reports that two people who received the Pfizer vaccine had allergic reactions. Medical experts say that although reactions are rare, they are not unheard of in vaccines of any kind and are generally short-lived.
US health officials say the modern and Pfizer coronavirus vaccines are safe, and medical experts agree that allergic reactions to vaccines are rare, but they can sometimes happen.
The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that, “If you have ever had a severe allergic reaction to any ingredient in a COVID-19 vaccine … you should not get that specific vaccine. If you have had a severe allergic reaction other vaccines or injectable therapies, you should ask your doctor if you should get the COVID-19 vaccine. Your doctor will help you decide if it is safe for you to be vaccinated. “
Just over 1 million people in the United States received their first dose of a coronavirus vaccine on Wednesday morning, according to the CDC, and only a handful of reactions to them have qualified as anaphylaxis, a serious allergic reaction. and potentially fatal.
It is not clear why some people are having allergic reactions after taking the injections. Fatigue, headaches and muscle aches have been identified as the most common side effects of the Moderna vaccine, according to the Food and Drug Administration.
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A study led by a team from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases is looking at why some people have suffered from severe allergic reactions and should include several hundred people with a history of severe allergic reactions.
Moments after receiving the injection containing the vaccine, Sadrzadeh’s heart raced, then he felt his tongue and throat tingle and start to go numb, he told The Boston Globe newspaper. He called it the worst allergic reaction he has had since he was 11 – he is allergic to seafood.
But Sadrzadeh told the newspaper he was feeling normal again on Friday morning, and hopes his story will encourage anyone with a history of allergy to educate themselves with information before getting the vaccine.
Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine began arriving in Massachusetts on Tuesday as part of a shipment of more than 116,000 doses. The delivery totaled 59,475 doses of Pfizer that were distributed in the state in the first week of arrival. Of that total, the Boston Medical Center received its first shipment of 75,000 doses of Moderna’s vaccine, in addition to the 2,000 doses of Pfizer, which have already begun to be administered to employees and patients.