Alaska Health Workers Got Emergency Treatment After Receiving Pfizer’s Vaccine

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/16/health/covid-pfizer-vaccine-allergic-reaction.html

One of the workers, who did not have a history of allergies, remained in the hospital on Wednesday night. Some reactions to the vaccine were also reported last week in Britain.

Vaccines being prepared in Fargo, N.D., on Monday. The reaction was believed to be similar to the reactions two health workers in the U.K. experienced after receiving the Pfizer vaccine last week.

By Noah Weiland, Sharon LaFraniere, Mike Baker and Katie Thomas

• updated Dec. 17, 2020,

WASHINGTON - Two health care workers at the same hospital in Alaska developed concerning reactions just minutes after receiving Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine this week, including one staff member who was to remain hospitalized until Thursday.

Health officials said that the cases would not disrupt their vaccine rollout plans and that they were sharing the information for the sake of transparency.

The first worker, a middle-aged woman who had no history of allergies, had an anaphylactic reaction that began 10 minutes after receiving the vaccine at Bartlett Regional Hospital in Juneau on Tuesday, 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 re-emerged, and she was treated with steroids and an epinephrine drip.

When doctors tried to stop the drip, her symptoms re-emerged yet again, so the woman was moved to the intensive care unit, observed throughout the night, then weaned off the drip early Wednesday morning, Dr. Jones said.

Dr. Jones had said earlier Wednesday that the woman was set to be discharged in the evening, but the hospital said late Wednesday that she was remaining another night.

The second worker received his shot on Wednesday and developed eye puffiness, lightheadedness and a scratchy throat 10 minutes after the injection, the hospital said in a statement. He was taken to the emergency room..

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