“Is the Covid vaccine safe for people with allergies like hay fever and conjunctivitis?” – Miriam Stoppard

Some of my friends have asked me if they could get the Covid vaccine if they had allergies like hay fever. The answer is, yes they can, despite concerns raised when two healthcare workers had reactions to the bite in December.

However, both had a history of severe allergies and even carried EpiPens in an emergency.

At the end of December, the Medicines and Health Products Regulatory Agency released a statement after reviewing more than a million doses here and in North America.

He said there was no evidence of an increased risk of an allergic reaction to the Pfizer vaccine, with the only ban being people with allergies to the vaccines themselves.

I cannot stress enough that allergy does not prohibit vaccination unless that allergy is to a vaccine or its ingredients.

As Rebecca E Glover and colleagues at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, UCLH London, and Harvard Medical School in the United States put it in the BMJ, reporting any allergy as a reason not to not being vaccinated would be of concern because 20 to 40% of the population of the UK and US has at least one form of allergy. This includes hay fever, conjunctivitis, allergic asthma, eczema and contact dermatitis, food allergies, and hives caused by food.

Another concern is that public acceptance of a Covid-19 vaccine appears to be waning. Initially, acceptance varied from 90%, but had dropped to 64% by July 2020.

More worrying than anything, the reluctance to get vaccinated appears to be highest in ethnic minority communities, the most vulnerable to Covid. It seems to me that we need to be transparent with everyone about the science behind allergies and vaccination because, in general, it’s reassuring.

The important message is that a severe allergy does not prevent vaccination unless the allergy is to the vaccine itself or its components.

It is essential that this message is communicated clearly and openly as a first step in approaching vaccine hesitancy. The public could gain confidence if vaccinators were prepared to be open, explain the difference between severe, moderate and mild allergies, and clarify MHRA decision making.

There are concerns that people’s opinions on Covid vaccines may be transferred to other vaccines like childhood vaccination, so keeping the lines of communication open, and if the vaccination is refused, it is essential to keep the lines of communication open. there is no room for coercion. People must be reassured that they can come back.

The good news is that it may be possible to vaccinate people who are allergic to the components of the vaccine. Allergists can assess patients with allergies to a vaccine and judge whether they can be vaccinated with a 15 or 30 minute observation routine or they can have a skin test before vaccination.