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A New York City health worker had a “significant” allergic reaction after receiving the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine, city health officials said Wednesday morning.
The health worker has been treated and is reportedly in stable condition. To date, more than 30,000 vaccinations have been administered in the city.
This is the first known side effect reported in New York. It was not immediately clear whether the worker had a history of significant allergic reactions.
“Vaccines have side effects and allergic reactions – although rare – are known to occur,” the New York Department of Health said in an email to reporters. “We also know that based on clinical trials and adverse reaction reports in other jurisdictions, reactions like these are rare but have been reported with the Pfizer vaccine.”
The Health Ministry declined to provide further details at this time, including when the reaction occurred.
During a press conference at town hall, Dr Dave Chokshi, the town’s health commissioner, stressed that allergic reactions to the vaccine, also known as anaphylaxis, were considered rare.
“These vaccines are generally very safe,” he said.
Chokshi said people with food or seasonal allergies should get vaccinated, while those with a significant history should see their doctor first.
Dr Jay Varma, one of the city’s top health advisers, said the public needs to keep these incidents in perspective.
A small risk of allergic reactions “must be weighed against the known risks of this infection”.
“I know which side I’m falling on personally,” Varma added, saying he and his wife, who is a pediatrician, were confident in the safety of the vaccine.
About 200 New Yorkers are admitted to hospitals daily for coronavirus. Since the start of the pandemic, more than 24,700 people in the five districts have died from the disease.
The Pfizer and Moderna vaccine were approved after showing high levels of efficacy and safety in large randomized trials. None of the trial participants experienced serious allergic reactions, but people with a history of anaphylaxis were excluded.
Dr Denis Nash, professor of epidemiology at CUNY, said health officials need to collect more data and closely monitor patients receiving the vaccine.
“Ultimately the goal will be to understand how rare or common it is, and what things can predispose people to this kind of outcome,” he said.
The National Institute of Health is currently preparing a study to understand why people can have serious allergic reactions to the vaccine.
Last week, two health workers in Alaska required treatment for allergic reactions shortly after receiving Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine, marking the first known side effects in the United States. One of them was admitted to an intensive care unit.
As of December 18, six people in the United States have been identified as having a severe allergic reaction to Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine.
More than half a million Americans have received the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine.
According to Science Magazine, anaphylactic reactions “can occur with any vaccine, but are generally extremely rare – about one in 1 million doses.”
Dr Jessica Justman, associate professor of epidemiology at the Columbia School of Public Health, said that according to some published scientific papers, the rate of a severe allergic reaction after receiving a flu shot is about one to two. out of a million.
She said she believed the latest cases of allergic reactions to the coronavirus vaccine were already being closely studied by experts, but added that transparency and communication are “always important in public health situations and contribute to maintain public confidence “.
Guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention state that people receiving the vaccine should be kept under observation for at least 15 minutes.
The CDC also advises that anyone who has had a severe allergic reaction to any of the ingredients in the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine should not be vaccinated.
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