Credit CDC
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It appears that the first full day of COVID-19 vaccination with the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 Vaccine in the UK has gotten off to a rocky start with two anaphylactic reactions reported - both in NHS workers with a history of allergic reactions - that required medical intervention.
Covid-19 vaccine: Allergy warning over new jab - BBC NewsNHS told not to give Pfizer vaccine to extreme allergy sufferers after two people have reaction - The Guardian
While two cases in one day is certainly newsworthy - and worthy of a caution from the MHRA - it remains to be seen how prevalent such reactions are going to be from the COVID vaccine.
As I pointed out last August in Remembering An Emergency Pandemic Vaccine Program That Went Awry, demand for the 1976 Swine flu Shot was very high until the newspapers began highlighting several (elderly) recipients who died within days of getting the jab.
Today, between 24-hour cable news networks and scores of social media outlets, any deaths or adverse reactions that occur within days or a couple of weeks of receiving a COVID vaccine will probably get a lot of negative publicity.Their deaths were likely unrelated to the vaccine, but it was a `good' story, and so the papers ran with it.
Much like what we saw happen six weeks ago in South Korea (see South Korea's Flu Vaccine Investigation) after reports emerged of dozens of deaths (out of millions of flu shot recipients), even though their CDC could find no link to the vaccine.
When you vaccinate large numbers of an elderly population, a small percentage will die due to other causes within days. While expected, it is nevertheless a public relations nightmare.
While early clinical trials suggest these COVID vaccines are safe, they are somewhat notorious for producing brief, and self-limiting side effects in many people, including fever, `flu-like' symptoms, and general malaise. It reportedly isn't pleasant.
How this will affect vaccine uptake is unknown, but officials worry that many who opted for the first jab may not go back for the booster 3 to 4 weeks later.
