A new report finds that nearly two dozen Americans have experienced life-threatening allergic reactions after receiving the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine.
Between Dec. 14 and 23, a total of 21 people suffered anaphylaxis on receiving the first dose, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed Wednesday.
Of these patients, 17 people had a history of allergies or allergic reactions and 71% of cases occurred within 15 minutes of vaccination.
With approximately only 1.9 million shots administered during this time period, that is, a rate of 11.1 cases of anaphylaxis per million doses.
However, the CDC claims that this reaction is “still extremely rare” and urges the general public to get the vaccines when they are available to help curb the pandemic, which averages more than 2,000 lives a day in the United States. Units.
A new CDC report revealed on Wednesday that 21 people out of 1.9 million suffered from anaphylaxis after receiving the first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine (above)
Of the patients, 17 had a history of allergies or allergic reactions and 71% occurred within 15 minutes of vaccination, but all are said to have recovered. Pictured: Dr. Nick Gilpin receives his second Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine from registered nurse Susan Grant at Beaumont Health in Southfield, Michigan, Jan. 5
The 21 people who suffered from anaphylaxis were between 27 and 60 years old and most were women, with only two male patients, although the CDC says this could be because more women than men received a first dose of vaccine.
A total of 17 had a history of allergies to a wide variety of things, including tropical fruits, bee and wasp stings, eggs, seafood, cats, penicillin, and steroids.
Two of the patients had pre-vaccine reactions, one against rabies and the other against the H1N1 flu vaccine.
Seven had a history of anaphylactic shock.
According to the report, the reactions occurred between two minutes and 150 minutes after receiving the dose of Pfizer.
Ninety percent of patients were treated with epinephrine, a hormone that relaxes airway muscles, and 19 percent (or four people) were hospitalized, including three in the ICU.
The remaining 17% were treated in an emergency department. Of the 20 people with available follow-up information, all were discharged at home or had recovered.
No deaths were reported.
With 21 reactions of 1,893,360 first doses, this equates to a rate of 11.1 cases of anaphylaxis per million doses.
In comparison, the flu has a rate of one case per million doses.
“This may seem high compared to the flu, but I want to reassure you that it is still a poor result,” Dr. Nancy Messonier, director of the National Center for Vaccination and Respiratory Diseases, told reporters on Wednesday. CDC.
“I continue to believe that Covid’s risk makes it imperative that people go ahead and get vaccinated as soon as it’s available.”
Anaphylactic shock is a serious and life-threatening reaction to an allergy from food, medicine, or even some type of material.
The immune system releases chemicals that flood the body, blood pressure drops suddenly, and the airways shrink, preventing someone from breathing normally.
Symptoms usually appear within minutes and include hives, weak pulse, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, and a swollen tongue or throat.
If not treated immediately, it can cause death.
Allergic reactions to Pfizer’s shot were first seen in the UK when two members of the National Health Service (NHS) staff with a history of severe allergies suffered reactions after being immunized last month. past.
One of the workers, a 49-year-old woman, had a history of egg allergies and the other, a 40-year-old woman, had a history of drug allergies.
Both wore devices containing epinephrine in case they suffered any reaction.
A third patient also had a “possible allergic reaction”, but British authorities neither described her nor reported the patient.
Pfizer says its beating is not done with any egg ingredients.
Following the reactions, the UK Medicines and Health Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) issued a warning not to vaccinate anyone with severe allergic reactions to food or medicine.
About 32 million Americans have food allergies, according to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America. It is unknown how many people are allergic to medications.
In the United States, it is recommended to observe those without anaphylaxis or immediate allergic reactions for 15 minutes and those with a history of 30 minutes.
“If you have allergies to vaccine compounds or closely related compounds, we recommend that you do not get vaccinated at this time,” said Dr. Thomas Clark, head of the epidemiology of the meningitis and vaccine-preventable diseases branch. of the CDC. .
Data from clinical trials also revealed that four people who received the vaccine were diagnosed with Bell’s palsy, a type of facial paralysis.
However, the scientists in the trial said there was no evidence of the punch causing the disease and that the figure was equal to the rate of Bell’s palsy in the general population.
“Among the non-serious unsolicited adverse events, there was a numerical imbalance of four cases of Bell’s palsy in the vaccine group compared with no case in the placebo group, although the four cases in the placebo group vaccines do not represent a higher frequency than expected in the general population “, said the analysis.
In its report on Pfizer, the CDC said it plans to study the reported adverse events after receiving the Modern COVID-19 vaccine and publish an analysis in the coming weeks.