Should People With Allergies Worry About Pfizer And BioNTech’s Vaccine?
ALLERGIES AND PFIZER VACCINE – As the COVID-19 vaccine distribution continues, many are concerned about taking the vaccine due to pre-existing allergies. However, according to most medical experts, this shouldn’t be a cause for fear.
Dr. Paul Offit, an expert on vaccines at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, said many of the resident of the United States are allergic to food. Furthermore, he expressed that many were also allergic to bee stings and medicine.
Additionally, he said that some of these allergies were serious enough that doctors recommended patients to carry epinephrine injectors at all times. But, despite all of this, Dr. Offit stressed that this does not necessarily mean the new COVID-19 vaccine would be risky for them.
According to an article from NY Times, Offit emphasized that fewer than a million recipients of other vaccines yearly in the US undergo anaphylactic reactions. Furthermore, he said that those types of reactions are treatable, especially when compared to severe cases of COVID-19.
Moreover, the vaccine expert asserted that a large majority of people with food allergies, bee stings, or medicine, have taken multiple vaccines without any issues. As such, during a panel meeting with the F.D.A, Offit voted in major of authorizing Pfizer’s vaccine.
However, as per the article, Offit said that the issue regarding vaccines and allergies is “not going to die” until better data is presented. He said that researchers should look for an ingredient in the vaccine that may trigger allergic reactions.
Recently, Britain released reports of allergic reactions to the vaccine. As such, Dr. Moncef Slaoui, the head of the government’s Operation Warp Speed program to develop vaccines stated that people with severe allergic reactions should avoid the vaccine until cases in Britain are concluded.
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