UK warns people with 'significant' allergies to skip Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for now

London

BRITISH health officials on Wednesday warned that anyone with a history of significant allergic reactions should not have the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid jab for the time being.

The warning came after two members of the state-run National Health Service who were among the first to receive the vaccine on Tuesday suffered allergic reactions and needed treatment.

"As is common with new vaccines the MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency) have advised on a precautionary basis that people with a significant history of allergic reactions do not receive this vaccination, after two people with a history of significant allergic reactions responded adversely yesterday," said NHS England medical director Stephen Powis.

He added that "both are recovering well".

"Significant" allergic reactions include those to medicines, food or vaccines, said the MHRA.

The MHRA was the first in the world to approve the vaccine while the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and European Medicines Agency (EMA) continue to assess the data.

"Last evening, we were looking at two case reports of allergic reactions. We know from the very extensive clinical trials that this wasn't a feature," MHRA chief executive June Raine told lawmakers.

Thousands of Britons became the first in the Western world to received an approved Covid-19 vaccine on Tuesday, as the NHS began the biggest vaccination drive since it was created in 1948.

The vaccine is administered in two doses, 21 days apart. The over-80s and health and social care staff are first in line to get the jab in the national rollout.

Britain has received some 800,000 doses of the vaccine in the first batch of an order of 40 million. Up to four million doses are expected by the end of December.

Pfizer chief executive Albert Bourla on Tuesday said he understood global concerns about the speed with which pharmaceutical companies have produced vaccines against Covid-19.

But he insisted no corners have been cut.

The vaccine had been tested "in the exact same way as we are testing any vaccine that is circulating out there", he told a virtual media briefing in Geneva.

Pfizer said the MHRA had informed them of the allergic reactions but said during phase three trials of more than 40,000 people, the vaccine was "generally well-tolerated with no serious safety concerns" reported.

The FDA released documents on Tuesday in preparation for an advisory committee meeting on Thursday, saying the Pfizer vaccine's efficacy and safety data met its expectations for authorisation.

That briefing document said 0.63 per cent of people in the vaccine group and 0.51 per cent in the placebo group reported possible allergic reactions in trials, which Peter Openshaw, professor of experimental medicine at Imperial College London, said was a very small number.

"The fact that we know so soon about these two allergic reactions and that the regulator has acted on this to issue precautionary advice shows that this monitoring system is working well," he added. AFP, REUTERS