A Boston doctor who used EpiPen for himself after having the first known allergic reaction to Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine is talking about his experience.
Within minutes of receiving the first dose of the vaccine Thursday, Dr. Hossein Sadrzadeh of Boston Medical Center said his heart began to pound. He said he initially thought it was anxiety, but then he felt his tongue and throat tingle and he began to fall asleep.
“My blood pressure was down, so I knew it was an anaphylactic shock,” Sadrzadeh told NBC10 Boston and NECN. “My heart rate has increased, I’m sweating, so my blood pressure is really down. I’ve had it before, so I had the EpiPen and I administered it myself.”
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Sadrzadeh, who has a severe allergy to seafood, was taken to the emergency department after receiving the shot containing the vaccine from the Cambridge-based company. It returned to normal by Friday, he said.
Sadrzadeh is the first person to have a known allergic reaction to Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine, according to the New York Times. However, other vaccines that are now used are known to cause allergic reactions in rare cases. More than 35,000 people have been vaccinated in Massachusetts as of Tuesday, according to the new state board.
Sadrzadeh hopes his story raises awareness about the potential of the vaccine to induce anaphylaxis in both pharmaceutical companies and anyone with a history of allergies.
“I think people should be vaccinated,” Sadrzadeh said. “At the same time, I would like Moderna and also Pfizer to investigate this further to prevent things from happening.”
U.S. health officials say Moderna and Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccines are safe and medical experts agree that allergic reactions to vaccines are rare, but can sometimes occur.
Thousands of additional doses of Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine began arriving in Massachusetts on Tuesday.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that “if you have ever had a severe allergic reaction to any ingredient in a COVID-19 vaccine … you should not receive that specific vaccine. If you have had a reaction severe allergic to other vaccines or injectable therapies, you should ask your doctor if you need to take a COVID-19 vaccine.
Just over a million people in the United States had received the first dose of coronavirus vaccine as of Wednesday morning, according to the CDC, and only a handful of reactions to these people had been classified as anaphylaxis, a severe and life-threatening allergic reaction.
British officials are investigating reports that two people who received the Pfizer vaccine had allergic reactions. Medical experts say that while the reactions are rare, they are unheard of for any type of vaccine and are usually short-lived.
It is unclear why some people experience allergic reactions after receiving the shots. Fatigue, headaches, and muscle aches have been noted as the most common side effects of the Moderna vaccine, according to the Food and Drug Administration.
A study led by a team from the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases examines why some people have suffered severe allergic reactions and is expected to include several hundred people with a history of severe allergic reactions.
Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine began arriving in Massachusetts on Tuesday, as part of a shipment of more than 116,000 doses. Delivery amounted to 59,475 doses of Pfizer that were distributed in the state the first week they arrived. From this, Boston Medical Center had received the first shipment of 75,000 doses of Modern vaccine in addition to the 2,000 doses of Pfizer, which have already begun to be administered to staff and patients.