[ad_1]
Image Credit: AFP
New York: A team of experts led by allergists from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in the US has ensured that people with food or drug allergies can be safely vaccinated with Covid-19 injections produced by Pfizer- BioNTech and Moderna.
The study, published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice, comes at a time when reports of possible allergic reactions to the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines have raised public concern.
Both vaccines were recently approved for emergency use by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
In response to reports of possible allergic reactions in some people after Covid-19 vaccination in the UK, that country’s medical regulatory agency advised that people with a history of anaphylaxis to a drug or food should avoid the Covid-vaccine. 19. The UK also approved the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine.
However, after a more detailed review of the data related to allergic reactions, the US FDA recommended that vaccines be withheld only from people with a history of severe allergic reactions to any component of the Covid-19 vaccine. . The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advised that all patients be observed for 15 minutes after vaccination by personnel who can identify and monitor such reactions.
US agencies do not recommend that people with food or drug allergies avoid vaccination.
To provide information from an allergist’s perspective, experts have summarized what is currently known about allergic reactions to vaccines such as those developed against Covid-19. They have proposed detailed advice so that people with different allergy backgrounds can safely receive their first Covid-19 vaccine.
They also outlined the steps to safely receive the second dose in people who develop a reaction to their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.
“As allergists, we want to encourage vaccination by reassuring the public that both FDA-approved COVID-19 vaccines are safe,” said study co-author Aleena Banerji, clinical director of the MGH Clinical Immunology and Allergy Unit and Harvard Associate Professor. . Medicine School.
“Our guidelines are based on recommendations from US regulatory agencies and provide clear steps to the medical community on how to safely administer both doses of the vaccine to people with a history of allergies.”
The experts noted that allergic reactions to vaccines are rare, with a rate of about 1.3 per 1 million people.
They also determined that allergic reactions to the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines will have an equally low rate of occurrence.
Banerji and his co-authors recommended that people with a history of anaphylaxis to an injectable drug or a vaccine containing polyethylene glycol or polysorbate speak with their allergists before getting vaccinated.
