COVID-19 Pfizer Vaccine: Two Health Care Workers In UK Have Allergic Reaction; Doctors Say General Public Should Not Be Scared
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The United Kingdom is on day two of its rollout of the Pfizer vaccine for COVID-19, and it now comes with a warning: If you have significant allergies, you should not be given the shot. Two health workers who got the vaccine developed serious allergic reactions.
The general public should not be scared of the vaccine, and those with severe allergies should talk to their doctors before getting the shots.
Infectious disease doctor Gregory Huhn, who is the COVID vaccination coordinator for Cook County Health, said given the large numbers of people expected to get the vaccine, it is likely a small group will have allergic reactions.
"When you have hundreds of thousands or millions potentially getting this vaccine there will be rare instances of severe reactions," he said.
In Britain the two health workers who had adverse reactions to the Pfizer COVID vaccine have histories of serious allergies and carry EpiPens. British health officials have urged people with strong allergic reactions to food or medicine not to get the vaccine now.
But CBS 2 wondered whether those who don't know if they have allergies should be alarmed by what's happened in the UK.
"These are going to be very rare events. It is surprising that two came up, popped up right away with the initial rollout, but it's going to be a rare event. And so we're just going to have to monitor that," Huhn said. "I hope that this will not break with the enthusiasm right now with the 95% effectiveness that we've seen with this vaccine in a very strong phase three trial."
Northwestern Doctor Robert Murphy echoes Huhn, saying people with severe allergies should first talk with their physicians, but the general public should not be worried.
"With all the tens of thousands of people that have taken the vaccine, this is first we've heard about this yesterday, these two patients. So that's a good sign," Murphy said.
The two health care workers Britain have recovered. Pfizer says it has medical investigators working to understand why it happened.
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