Severe allergy case linked to Moderna vaccine

NEW YORK • A Boston physician said he developed a severe allergic reaction minutes after receiving Moderna's coronavirus vaccine in the first week of the nationwide roll-out for the company's shots.

The case was the first of its kind reported to be linked to Moderna's vaccine.

Federal agencies are investigating at least six cases involving people who suffered anaphylaxis after receiving the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which contains similar ingredients, during the first few weeks of its distribution in the United States.

Officials with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have not determined if an ingredient in the Pfizer vaccine caused the allergic responses.

A few healthcare workers in Britain also experienced anaphylaxis after receiving the Pfizer vaccine.

The incident with the Moderna vaccine on Thursday involved Dr Hossein Sadrzadeh, a geriatric oncologist at Boston Medical Centre who has a severe shellfish allergy.

Dr Sadrzadeh said he experienced a severe reaction almost immediately after inoculation, feeling dizzy and with his heart racing.

Boston Medical Centre spokesman David Kibbe said Dr Sadrzadeh "was allowed to self-administer his personal EpiPen". "He was taken to the Emergency Department, evaluated, treated, observed and discharged. He is doing well today."

Moderna spokesman Ray Jordan said the company's medical safety team would look into the matter.

CDC spokesman Tom Skinner said information on reactions to the new vaccines would be posted on the agency's website starting this week.

The FDA would not comment on the report.

With more than 1.1 million injections already delivered and administered across the country, severe allergic reactions remain a rarity, and should not prompt concern in most people, said Dr Merin Kuruvilla, an allergist and immunologist at Emory University.

After the initial cases from the Pfizer shots, the CDC advised that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines might not be appropriate for people with a history of anaphylaxis to ingredients in either injection.

The agency recommended that people with other allergies should still get their shots and wait the standard 15 minutes post-injection before leaving the vaccination site.

Anyone who previously had an anaphylactic reaction to a substance, including another vaccine or injectable drug, should be monitored for an extra 15 minutes.

NYTIMES