A Boston doctor experienced a “severe” reaction a few minutes after being inoculated with the Modern vaccine on Christmas night.
The New York Times reported that the reaction was the first of its kind related to the Modern vaccine, which was launched last week in the United States.
What are the details?
Dr. Hossein Sadrzadeh, a geriatric oncologist at Boston Medical Center, had a severe anaphylactic reaction immediately after receiving Moderna’s shot. Dr. Sadrzadeh told the Times that the allergic reaction was the same as the one he experiences with seafood.
More information from the Times:
He said that within minutes of the vaccine injection at 3:30 p.m., his heart rate had increased to 150 beats per minute, about twice the normal rate; his tongue stung and he fell asleep. After a short time, he was sweating from the cold and was dizzy and fainting. His blood pressure also plummeted, he said. He realized that his immune system was in turmoil.
“It was the same anaphylactic reaction I experience with seafood,” Dr. Sadrzadeh said. Dr. Sadrzadeh used the EpiPen and was taken on a stretcher to the emergency room, where he was given several medications, including steroids and Benadryl, to calm the immune reactions that had overwhelmed his body. A record of his visit indicated that he had been “seen in the emergency room for shortness of breath, dizziness, palpitations and numbness after receiving the Covid-19 vaccine.”
“He was taken to the Emergency Department, assessed, treated, observed and discharged. He is doing well today,” Boston Medical Center spokesman David Kibbe said in a statement.
What is causing the reactions?
There have been numerous allergic reactions to coronavirus vaccines. The Food and Drug Administration said the week before Christmas that officials were investigating reactions to several states with the Pfizer vaccine, which was rolled out a week before the Modern vaccine.
While experts are still unsure of what caused the reactions, officials say the vaccines are safe.
However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published updated guidelines on the vaccine for Americans with a history of severe allergic reactions.
“If you have ever had a severe allergic reaction to any ingredient in a COVID-19 vaccine, the CDC recommends that you do not have this specific vaccine. If you have had a severe allergic reaction to other vaccines or injectable therapies, you should ask your doctor if you should get a vaccine against COVID-19. Your doctor will help you decide if it is safe for you to get vaccinated, “the new guide says.
Meanwhile, Dr. Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biological Product Evaluation and Research, has identified polyethylene glycol as the “guilty” potential for the reactions.
The ingredient is present in both the Pfizer vaccine and the Modern vaccine.
As of Sunday, more than 9.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine had been distributed in the United States and nearly 2 million Americans had been inoculated, according to CDC data.