Severe Allergic Reaction In US Health Worker Minutes After Pfizer Shot

An Alaskan health worker had a serious allergic reaction after getting Pfizer Inc and BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine, but is now stable, public health authorities said on Wednesday.

The adverse reaction in the person, minutes after taking the Pfizer shot on Tuesday, was similar to two cases reported last week in Britain.

Britain’s medical regulator has said that anyone with a history of anaphylaxis, or severe allergic reactions to a medicine or food, should not get the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.

But the US Food and Drug Administration has said that most Americans with allergies should be safe to receive the vaccine.

It said only people who have previously had severe allergic reactions to vaccines or ingredients in this particular vaccine should avoid getting the shot. The Alaskan patient did not have a history of allergic reactions, Lindy Jones, the director of the emergency department in the capital Juneau where the patient was treated, told reporters at a virtual briefing.

The symptoms in the middle-aged patient resolved after being administered with allergy treatment epinephrine, Jones said.