Health worker had a serious allergic reaction after getting COVID-19 vaccine

A healthcare worker in Alaska had a serious allergic reaction after getting Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine Tuesday, symptoms that emerged within minutes and required an overnight hospital stay.

The middle-aged worker had no history of allergies but had an anaphylactic reaction that began 10 minutes after receiving the vaccine at Bartlett Regional Hospital in Juneau, Alaska, a hospital official said. She experienced a rash over her face and torso, shortness of breath and an elevated heart rate.

Dr. Lindy Jones, the hospital’s emergency department medical director, said the worker was first given a shot of epinephrine, a standard treatment for severe allergic reactions. Her symptoms subsided but then reemerged, and she was treated with steroids and an epinephrine drip.

When doctors tried to stop the drip, her symptoms reemerged yet again, so the woman was moved to the intensive care unit, observed throughout the night, then weaned off the drip early Wednesday morning, Jones said. He said the woman felt well, remained enthusiastic about the vaccine and was set to be discharged later Wednesday.

Although the Pfizer vaccine was shown to be safe and about 95% effective in a clinical trial involving 44,000 participants, the Alaska case will likely intensify concerns about possible side effects. Experts described the woman’s symptoms as potentially life-threatening and said that they may prompt calls for tighter guidelines to ensure that recipients are carefully monitored for adverse reactions.

Millions of Americans are in line to be inoculated with the Pfizer vaccine by the end of the year.

Pfizer’s trial did not find any serious adverse events caused by the vaccine, although many participants did experience aches, fevers and other side effects.

The Alaska woman’s reaction was assumed to be related to the vaccine because it occurred so quickly after the shot.

A Pfizer spokesperson, Jerica Pitts, said that the company does not yet have all the details of the case but is working with local health authorities.

Federal regulators issued a broad authorization for the vaccine Friday to adults 16 years and older. Healthcare providers were warned not to give the vaccine to anyone with a “known history of a severe allergic reaction” to any component of the vaccine, which they said was a standard warning for vaccines.