Photographer: Eric Lee / Bloomberg
Photographer: Eric Lee / Bloomberg
Approximately 1 in 100,000 people had a severe allergic reaction to the first Covid-19 vaccine, a rate that is higher than that of the flu vaccine, but is still very rare, US health officials said.
A study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released on Wednesday described 21 cases of anaphylaxis among the first 1.9 million recipients of Vaccine from Pfizer Inc., a rate of 11.1 per million doses administered. No deaths from anaphylaxis have been reported, said the CDC.
The CDC said it saw the reactions in the recipients of the Moderna Inc. has also skyrocketed, with 29 confirmed cases of anaphylaxis so far between the two vaccines. Still, the CDC maintains its recommendation that most people should still get the vaccines, saying that the risks around the vaccine are less than the risk of getting a serious case of Covid-19.
“Even with 11 cases per million doses administered, it is a very safe vaccine,” said Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. “I continue to believe that the risk of Covid and the risk of poor results, especially in the elderly, makes it imperative that people be vaccinated as soon as they are available.”
The only exceptions described by the CDC are people with a known allergy to vaccine ingredients and people who have had a reaction to the first dose of a Covid vaccine.
However, Messonnier emphasized that those with a history of allergic reactions to medications and severe allergic reactions of any cause should be observed for half an hour after the injections, and providers should be prepared with allergic reaction treatments like EpiPen.
Regulators are closely monitoring the safety of Covid-19 vaccines as they are launched, she added, noting: “We are not seeing any worrying signs. The only thing we saw was these serious allergic reactions. “
Established Standard
Serious allergic reactions to vaccines are an established, though unusual, phenomenon. They occur about 1.3 times per million doses of flu vaccine administered and, with other vaccines, have been observed at rates of 12 to 25 per million doses, although studies have been small.
Many safety problems after vaccination are also coincident, Messonnier noticed, saying: “the vaccine is not always the cause of this”.
The severe allergic reactions seen with the initial Covid-19 vaccines did not significantly affect distribution plans, said Messonnier.
Of the patients who had severe allergic reactions to the Pfizer vaccine, four had to be hospitalized, and the rest were treated in the emergency room. CDC officials said all 20 patients they had information about had recovered.
“It is an unusual complication. It is reversible and treatable, ”said Anthony Fauci, the government’s leading infectious disease physician, during an online event at the Economic Club in Washington DC.