The Blog

2020-

2020-12-16 i
VACCINE NEWS I
"The middle-aged worker had no history of allergies, but had an anaphylactic reaction that began 10 minutes after receiving the vaccine at Bartlett Regional Hospital in Juneau, Alaska"

Alaska Health Worker Had a Serious Allergic Reaction After Pfizer’s Vaccine

The person had no history of allergies. Two similar reactions happened last week in Britain.

A health care worker in Alaska had a serious allergic reaction after getting Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine on Tuesday, symptoms that emerged within minutes and required an overnight hospital stay.

The middle-aged worker had no history of allergies, but had an anaphylactic reaction that began 10 minutes after receiving the vaccine at Bartlett Regional Hospital in Juneau, Alaska, a hospital official said. She experienced a rash over her face and torso, shortness of breath and an elevated heart rate.

Dr. Lindy Jones, the hospital’s emergency department medical director, said the worker was first given a shot of epinephrine, a standard treatment for severe allergic reactions. Her symptoms subsided but then re-emerged, and she was treated with steroids and an epinephrine drip.

When doctors tried to stop the drip, her symptoms re-emerged yet again, so the woman was moved to the intensive care unit, observed throughout the night, then weaned off the drip early Wednesday morning, Dr. Jones said. He said the woman felt well, remained enthusiastic about the vaccine and was set to be discharged later Wednesday.

Although the Pfizer vaccine was shown to be safe and about 95 percent effective in a clinical trial involving 44,000 participants, the Alaska case will likely intensify concerns about possible side effects. Experts described the woman’s symptoms as potentially life-threatening, and said that they may prompt calls for tighter guidelines to ensure that recipients are carefully monitored for adverse reactions.

... The Alaska woman’s reaction was believed to be similar to the anaphylactic reactions two health workers in Britain experienced after receiving the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine last week. Like her, both recovered.

Those cases are expected to come up on Thursday, when F.D.A. scientists are scheduled to meet with the agency’s outside panel of experts to decide whether to recommend that regulators approve Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use.

Although Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines are both based on the same type of technology and similar in their ingredients, it is not clear whether an allergic reaction to one would occur with the other. Both consist of genetic material called mRNA encased in a bubble of oily molecules called lipids, although they use different combinations of lipids.

... Pfizer also said that the vaccine is recommended to be administered in settings that have access to equipment to manage anaphylaxis.

... Anaphylaxis can be life-threatening, with impaired breathing and drops in blood pressure that usually occur within minutes or even seconds after exposure to a food or medicine, or even a substance like latex to which the person is allergic. (read more)

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