While the United States reached an agreement on Wednesday with Pfizer Inc. for an additional 100 million doses of its Covid-19 vaccine, cases of allergic reactions would have sparked discussions between vaccine manufacturers and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for conducting clinical trials. trials in highly allergic populations. According to a CNN report, the tsar of U.S. President Donald Trump’s Covid-19 vaccine said the frequency of allergic reactions to the Pfizer vaccine is higher than expected.
“This frequency, as it was yesterday (December 22), is higher than could be expected with other vaccines,” said Dr. Moncef Slaoui, chief scientific adviser to Operation Warp Speed, according to the media network of the USA.
UK regulators have already issued a warning about the problem, urging people with a history of “significant” allergic reactions not to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. The Medicines and Health Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) issued precautionary advice to the National Health Service (NHS) after two health staff members experienced allergic reactions. Dr. June Raine, chief executive of the MHRA, had testified before a parliamentary committee where she acknowledged that cases of allergic reactions did not appear in the extensive clinical trials.
“We know from very extensive clinical trials that this was not a feature. But if we need to strengthen our advice, now that we have had this experience in vulnerable populations (groups have been selected as priorities), we receive that advice immediately, ”said Dr. Raine.
The United States has launched the coronavirus vaccination campaign after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted emergency use authorization to Pfizer-BioNTech, followed by Moderna. Under the new agreement for additional doses of Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine, the US drug manufacturer and its German partner BioNTech will deliver at least 70 million doses on June 30, and the remaining doses will be delivered as maximum on July 31st.