NEW DELHI, Dec 9: Even as India is preparing to launch the Covid vaccination drive, the United Kingdom, the first country in the world to start the programme on Tuesday, has advised people with history of “significant” allergic reactions to not get the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against the disease.
The UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) issued precautionary advice to the National Health Service (NHS) on Wednesday after two health care staff members experienced allergic reactions.
NHS England confirmed that both staff members have a significant history of allergic reactions to the extent that they need to carry an adrenaline auto-injector with them. Shortly after the two staff members were administered with the first dose of Pfizer’s vaccine, they developed symptoms of “anaphylactoid reaction”. They are currently recovering after receiving appropriate treatment, media reports said.
The MHRA has advised that people with such “significant” allergic reactions to medicines, food or vaccines should not get the vaccine jab. Dr June Raine, chief executive of the MHRA, testified to a parliamentary committee on Wednesday, where she acknowledged that the cases of allergic reactions didn’t feature in the extensive clinical trials.
“We know from the very extensive clinical trials that this wasn’t a feature. But if we need to strengthen our advice, now that we’ve had this experience in the vulnerable populations – the groups have been selected as a priority – we get that advice to the field immediately,” said Dr Raine.
On Tuesday, Britain rolled out the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, becoming the first country to start inoculating its general population. Margaret Keenan, a 90-year-old grandmother from Britain, became the first person in the world to receive the Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine outside of a trial.
The Data Monitoring Committee for the study of phase 3 trial of Pfizer’s vaccine has not reported any serious safety concerns related to the vaccine. It reported some cases of fatigue and headache after the volunteers received the second dose of the vaccine.
(Manas Dasgupta)
