CDC says 1 in 100,000 people have had a severe allergic reaction to Covid Shot

Photographer: Eric Lee / Bloomberg

About 1 in 100,000 people had a severe allergic reaction to the first Covid-19 vaccine, a higher rate than the flu vaccine but still quite rare, US health officials said.

A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study released Wednesday described 21 cases of anaphylaxis among the 1.9 million initial recipients of The vaccine from Pfizer Inc., a rate of 11.1 per million doses administered. No deaths from anaphylaxis have been reported, the CDC said.

The CDC said it saw reactions from recipients of the Moderna Inc. has also fired, with 29 confirmed cases of anaphylaxis to date between the two vaccines. Still, the CDC is sticking to its recommendation that most people should still get the vaccine, saying the risks surrounding the vaccine are lower than the risk of getting a serious case of Covid-19.

“Even at 11 cases per million doses administered, it’s a very safe vaccine,” said Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC’s National Vaccination and Respiratory Disease Center. “I continue to believe that the risk of Covid, and the risk of poor outcomes, especially in the elderly, is forcing people to go ahead and get vaccinated as soon as they are available.”

The only exceptions highlighted by the CDC are people with allergies to vaccine ingredients and people who reacted to the first dose of a Covid vaccine.

However, Messonnier stressed that people with a history of allergic drug reactions and severe allergic reactions from any cause should be observed for half an hour after injections, and providers should be prepared with allergic reaction treatments such as ‘EpiPen.

Regulators are closely monitoring the safety of Covid-19 vaccines as they are deployed, she added, noting that “we are not seeing any worrying signals. The only thing we’ve seen are these severe allergic reactions. “

Established model

Severe allergic reactions to vaccines are an established, albeit rare, phenomenon. They occur about 1.3 times per million doses of influenza vaccine given, and with other vaccines have been seen at rates of 12 to 25 per million doses, although the studies have been small.

Many safety issues after vaccination are also fortuitous, Messonnier Noted, saying: “the vaccine is not always the cause.”

The severe allergic reactions seen with the first Covid-19 vaccines did not significantly affect distribution plans, Messonnier said.

Of the patients who had severe allergic reactions to the Pfizer vaccine, four required hospitalization and the rest were treated in the emergency room. CDC officials said all 20 patients they had information about have recovered.

“It’s an unusual complication. It’s reversible and treatable, ”said Anthony Fauci, the government’s senior infectious disease physician, during an online event at the Washington DC Economic Club.