Of about 2 million people vaccinated against COVID-19 over a ten-day period in December, only 21 people experienced severe allergic reactions, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) officials reported Wednesday.
Most of these people had a history of allergies or allergic reactions, and for the 20 people with whom CDC followed, all had recovered and been sent home.
Nancy Messonnier, director of the National Center for Vaccination and Respiratory Diseases at the CDC, stressed that allergic reactions are an “extremely rare” incidence.
“Of course, we would all expect any vaccine to have zero adverse events, but even with 11 cases per million doses administered, it is a very safe vaccine,” he said.
The risks of serious COVID-19 disease are much higher, Messonnier said, with more than 2,000 people dying a day.
“The risk of COVID and the poor outcomes of COVID are even more than the risk of a serious vaccine outcome,” he said.
A report released Wednesday by the CDC found 21 allergic reactions among 1.9 million people vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine between Dec. 14 and 23.
Eight additional reports of severe allergic reactions were reported after this time period and were not included in the report. More reports will be published in the future.
The Pfizer vaccine was the only one given to the public during this time period, but because of its similarity to the Modern COVID-19 vaccine, the CDC recommends monitoring patients with a history of immediate allergic reactions and severe in vaccines or anaphylaxis. 30 minutes after injections.
People with a history of allergic reactions to food, insect bites, vaccines or a history of anaphylaxis should consult their doctors before getting vaccinated, Messonnier said.