/https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/5fd0cb94d5272cdd3c109b2b/0x0.jpg?cropX1=0&cropX2=4722&cropY1=0&cropY2=3148&w=1200&resize=1200,800&ssl=1 "U.K. Regulator Warns People With ‘Significant’ Allergies To Avoid Pfizer-BioNTech Vaccine")
Topline
One day after the U.K was hailed for administering the first coronavirus vaccine shots in the west, Britain’s medicines regulator has warned people with a history of “significant” allergies to avoid the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine after two people who had the shot Tuesday experienced allergic reactions.
The U.K. regulator warns people with significant allergies to avoid the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 … [+]
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Key Facts
Two National Health Service (NHS) staff members experienced anaphylactoid reactions after receiving the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on the first day of the U.K.’s vaccination campaign.
Both are reported to be recovering well and had a history of severe allergic reactions, the NHS confirmed to news outlets.
As a precaution, the British medicines regulator, the MHRA, has advised people with a history of “significant allergic reaction to a vaccine, medicine or food” to avoid the vaccine and for vaccination centers to have resuscitation facilities on hand.
Professor Stephen Powis, national medical director for the NHS in England, said such precautionary advice is “common with new vaccines.”
Crucial Quote
Professor Stephen Evans, a professor of pharmacoepidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said that such reactions are “not unexpected,” saying that allergic reactions occur with a number of vaccines and drugs. “For the general population this does not mean that they would need to be anxious about receiving the vaccination,” Evans added. Professor Peter Openshaw, a professor of experimental medicine at Imperial College London, echoed this advice, emphasizing the need to “put this risk in perspective.”
Key Background
The U.K. kicked off its mass vaccination campaign Tuesday after becoming the first western country to approve a Covid-19 vaccine a week earlier. The speed at which it approved the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, which is reported to be 95% effective at preventing Covid-19 and is still undergoing regulatory review in other countries, drew criticism from officials in Europe and the U.S.. Dr. Anthony Fauci, one of the U.S.’ most senior infectious diseases officials, accused the British regulator of cutting corners and rushing through the vaccine’s approval, though he later recanted the comments and apologized, saying he respected the agency’s work.
Tangent
The U.S., which is expected to approve Pfizer and BioNTech’s vaccine for emergency use as early as Thursday, could be left waiting until June to secure more than its initial 100 million doses of the vaccine, enough for 50 million people. Pfizer board member Scott Gottlieb rebutted White House denials that the Trump administration passed up on the opportunity to buy more, saying that it did so multiple times, adding that the country may now have to wait while the company fulfils its obligations elsewhere.
Further Reading
NHS told not to give Pfizer vaccine to extreme allergy sufferers after two people have reaction (Guardian)
Here’s Why The U.K. Beat The U.S. To Approve A Covid-19 Vaccine For Emergency Use (Forbes)
The U.S. Has Ordered Enough Of Pfizer’s Covid-19 Vaccine For 50 Million People—But That’s All (Forbes)
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