Health Officials Track Safety as COVID-19 Vaccines Roll Out

By LAURAN NEERGAARD AP Medical Writer As COVID-19 vaccinations roll out to more and more people, health authorities are keeping close watch for any unexpected side effects. On Tuesday, a health worker in Alaska suffered a severe allergic reaction after receiving the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. She is in the hospital for another night under observation while another worker, vaccinated Wednesday, has recovered. Doctors already knew to be on the lookout after Britain reported two similar cases last week. Related: Emergency Considerations in COVID-19 Vaccine Administration In the U.S., vaccine recipients are supposed to hang around after the injection in case signs of an allergy appear and they need immediate treatment — exactly what happened when the health worker in Juneau became flushed and short of breath 10 minutes after the shot. The second worker experienced eye puffiness, light headedness and scratchy throat. Allergies are always a question with a new medical product, but monitoring COVID-19 vaccines for any other, unexpected side effects is a bigger challenge than usual. It’s not just because so many people need to be vaccinated over the next year. Never before have so many vaccines made in different ways converged at the same time — and it’s possible that one shot option will come with different side effects than another. The first vaccine beginning widespread use in the U.S. and many Western countries, made by Pfizer Inc. and Germany’s Bio...
Source: JEMS Operations - Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Tags: AP News Coronavirus Source Type: news