As companies continue to increase vaccine mandates to combat the delta contagious variant, some institutions give employees the option to stop receiving the vaccine if they have a medical exemption.
However, medical experts who have followed COVID-19 vaccines and their effectiveness say that there are very few situations and conditions that would force a patient to stop getting vaccinated.
Dr. David Dowdy, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told ABC News that growing and numerous data on the three coronavirus vaccines show that there are no immediate health problems or side effects for most of people with pre-existing medical conditions. .
MORE: Are COVID-19 vaccines safe for pregnant women?
“Aside from age, there are no big exceptions that cover large groups of people,” he told ABC News.
Current guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention state that mRNA dose vaccines and the Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine are safe for almost all patients.
The only major contraindication to CDC-listed vaccines is a severe allergic reaction to the first dose. In these cases, the person is advised to see a doctor and withhold their second dose, according to Dowdy.
“We’re not talking about some people who had pain at the injection site or a rash, we’re talking about anaphylactic shock,” he said.
Dowdy said the data so far show that this severe allergy is uncommon and that less than one in a million people experience it.
Dr. Jeff Linder, head of general internal medicine and geriatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, told ABC News that research so far shows that those who have a severe allergic reaction are likely triggered by polyethylene glycol (PEG). ), a component of vaccines.
“An allergy to this is pretty rare,” he told ABC News. “It should be documented, as a moderate or severe allergy, before I consider a medical exemption.”
In general, COVID-19 vaccines are safe for people with “moderate to severe immune compromise,” underlying conditions, pregnant women, women trying to get pregnant, and mothers who are breastfeeding, according to the CDC.
Linder said these populations are more vulnerable to serious disease and coronavirus death and that it is important that they receive the shot.
“Anyone who says‘ I have a medical condition ’is more than a reason to get vaccinated,” he said.
The CDC has some additional precautions for people with certain medical conditions. For example, people with a history of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) are recommended to be admitted to an mRNA vaccine if they are within 90 days of illness, according to the CDC. Women over the age of 50 are also warned of a potential risk of thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS) if they opt for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, according to the CDC.
Currently, the agency advises retaining the vaccine immediately in two circumstances.
If a person is currently being diagnosed with COVID-19 or is in quarantine for a suspicious case, they are advised to receive the shots until the end of the quarantine period, according to agency guidelines. If a patient is receiving monoclonal antibodies or convalescent plasma for treatment with COVID-19, he or she is recommended to suspend the vaccine appointment for 90 days, according to the CDC.
Dowdy said neither scenario should stop anyone from getting either vaccine once they are eligible.
“People ask,‘ If I’ve gotten COVID in the past, can I get the vaccine? “The answer is yes, getting the vaccine adds extra protection,” he said.
Dr. Jay Bhatt, an internal medicine physician, an instructor at the University of Illinois School of Public Health and an ABC News contributor, added that special care should be taken in patients waiting for a breast transplant. organs, who have recently received an organ transplant or receive treatment for metastatic cancer. These patients should talk to their doctors and set a schedule for the first and safest time to receive their vaccines.
“It’s less about not getting vaccinated, but about when they want to do it,” he said. “If they’re in the middle of treatment … you want to make sure they’re properly placed.”
Researchers say that this list of medical exemptions is very unlikely to change in the near future. More than 178 million Americans over the age of 12 have been fully vaccinated since December and to date there have been no reports of adverse effects for patients with medical conditions, according to Linder.
“The idea that we are missing something even weird or serious seems very unlikely to me,” he said.
MORE: CDC officially recommends additional vaccines for people with a weakened immune system
Linder recommended that anyone still in doubt about the vaccine because of a medical problem should consult their doctor and review data that has overwhelmingly shown that the vaccines are safe.
“The risk of COVID is still high,” he said. “After all, we know that COVID vaccines are very effective in preventing hospitalization and death.”
Anyone who needs help scheduling a free vaccination appointment can go to vaccines.gov.
Few people are medically exempt from receiving the COVID-19 vaccine: experts originally appeared on abcnews.go.com