Scientists have achieved something extraordinary this year.
Less than a year after the coronavirus first emerged, researchers across the globe have developed three promising vaccines.
One of the vaccines, Pfizer-BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine, has been proven to be 95% effective, far surpassing the expectations of infectious disease experts.
On Tuesday (8 Dec), the UK became the first country to start a mass vaccination campaign for its residents, less than a week after Pfizer-BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine was approved for emergency use there.
However, it seems that not everyone in the UK may be able to get immunised.
UK Issues Warnings About Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine for People With Serious Allergic Reactions
Britain’s medicine regulator has warned that residents with a history of anaphylaxis to a medicine or food should not get the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine.
The advisory comes after two people reported adverse effects on the first day of the mass vaccination.
Britain’s immunisation drive started on Tuesday with the elderly and front-line workers.
Two people who had received the vaccinations reportedly suffered anaphylaxis, and another suffered a possible allergic reaction.
Fortunately, the two recipients who suffered anaphylaxis are recovering well.
The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has warned that any person with a history of anaphylaxis to a vaccine, medicine, or food should not receive the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
A Potentially Life-threatening Allergic Reaction
Anaphylaxis is a severe, potentially life-threatening allergic reaction that needs to be treated immediately.
It can occur within seconds or minutes of exposure to something you’re allergic to, such as food or medicine, so it’s different from those usual allergies some of us have, whereby we’d develop rashes or feel unwell only after a while.
Anaphylaxis is an allergic reaction that causes your immune system to release a flood of chemicals which make you go into shock. Your blood pressure drops suddenly and your airways narrow, making it difficult to breathe.
If left untreated, it can end in death.
It requires an injection of epinephrine and a follow-up trip to an emergency room.
Anaphylaxis is rare, and most people recover from it. But given how severe an allergic reaction it is, those with a history of anaphylaxis should follow MHRA’s warning, and stay away from the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
Those With History of Severe Allergic Reactions Excluded From Pfizer Clinical Trials
What many of us didn’t know is that people with a history of severe adverse allergic reactions were excluded from Pfizer’s late-stage trials, the company said.
Consequently, such allergic reactions were not witnessed in the clinical trials.
According to Reuters, a component of Pfizer’s vaccine called polyethylene glycol, or PEG, which helps stabilise the shot, may have caused the reaction.
The MHRA are just playing it safe though; it’s not known yet whether everyone with allergies will be affected.
It’s possible that people with severe allergic reactions to just one medicine may not be affected by the Covid-19 vaccine.
But at this point, it’s simply too early to tell.
Featured Image: Ascannio / Shutterstock.com
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