There have been several reports of individuals receiving the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) and BioNTech (NASDAQ: BNTX) and experiencing severe allergic reactions. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory panel that reviewed Modernin (NASDAQ: MRNA) coronavirus vaccine focused on the potential for similar reactions. In that Motley Fool Live video recorded on December 18, 2020, head of the health and cannabis office, Corinne Cardina, and Fool.com writer Keith Speights, discuss how these allergic reactions should be a major concern.
Corinne Cardina: Another thing that came up on the panel, a lot of people have doubts about it because, of course, this type of thing makes headlines: allergic reactions. I know we talked about some allergic reactions in the UK, but they were people with a history of allergic reactions.
The big headline in the past few days was, someone in Alaska who didn’t have a history of allergic reactions, having an anaphylactic reaction. The FDA wants to ensure that doctors have the right treatments for anaphylaxis available. You have to sit and be watched for several minutes after receiving the vaccine, just to make sure you don’t have a reaction. What did the FDA Advisory Committee say about these reactions?
Keith Speights: Well, they discussed it and just – a similar story that happened last week with the Pfizer vaccine. This kind of thing can happen and it is obviously worrying.
But the main thing is that they just want to make sure there is an observation period, as you mentioned, Corinne, so that people don’t get the vaccine and leave immediately. They want them to be around for 15, 20 minutes or more, just to make sure there is no reaction. They want oxygen in their hands, they want adrenaline in their hands to deal with any anaphylactic reaction.
Again, this is not uncommon with vaccines. People have allergic reactions. You mentioned the person from Alaska. It is also not so uncommon for someone not to have had a history of allergic reactions and then develop an allergic reaction. I personally know people who have spent their entire lives loving eating shrimp and lobster and, in their 40s, developed an allergy to seafood, almost overnight. You can take a history of any of these allergic reactions and develop it without knowing it.
It is important that people are observed for a few minutes after receiving the vaccine. But in the end, that was not an obstacle at all. Again, this is normal with any vaccine, so the FDA advisory committee has certainly discussed this, but the main thing they want to do is just take some standard precautions in that case.
Corinne Cardina: Absolutely. It is important to just remember that those reactions about which new stories are written are still very rare, so you don’t want to blow this out of proportion and not get the vaccine because of them. Even the woman in Alaska who was hospitalized said to everyone, “I am still very happy to have had the vaccine. You should get it.” It was good to hear that.