UK authorities call for Pfizer vaccine to be avoided in patients with severe allergic history

The British Medicines Regulatory Authority (MHRA) has sent a warning note to hospitals that distribute the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine on Wednesday to avoid providing the treatment to all those patients who have a history relevant to allergic reactions to other vaccines, drugs or foods.

Two members of the medical staff suffered anaphylactoid reactions after being injected on Tuesday, according to Stephen Powis, the national medical director of the NHS (the National Health Service, in its acronym in English), although "they are already recovering satisfactorily."

By relevant history, the MHRA understands serious cases, such as those patients who have suffered previous anaphylactoid reactions, or those who must carry an adrenaline auto-injector, as was the case of the two affected health workers.

It also adds that vaccination should only be carried out in facilities where means of resuscitation are available.

"As is common with new vaccines, the MHRA has recommended as a precautionary measure that patients with a relevant history of allergic reactions should not receive the vaccine, after two people with such a history responded adversely yesterday," Powis explained. .

Asked about it, a Pfizer spokeswoman quoted by the BBC has said that the MHRA has issued the warning as a precautionary measure while conducting an investigation into each case and its causes.

The spokeswoman for the pharmaceutical company recalled that her drug was "well tolerated" during the phase three clinical trial, and that the independent monitoring committee did not report serious safety problems.

More than 44,000 people have participated in the trial to date, more than 42,000 of whom have received a second dose.

The executive director of the MHRA, June Raine, has explained that the allergic reaction was not a side effect observed in the trials.

The United Kingdom began its mass vaccination campaign on Tuesday, after being the first European country to give official authorization to the vaccine against covid-19 developed by Pfizer and BioNTech.

Fifty hospitals throughout the country distribute the doses that have already reached British territory (about 800,000) to people over 80 years of age and to health personnel on the front line of combat against the disease.

The NHS telephones patients and summons them for the next day.

After receiving the first dose (treatment includes two), each person receives a reminder card with the expected date for the next injection, 21 days later.

The health authorities established from the beginning that the priority would be the nursing homes, the great victims of the tragic first wave.

But the need to keep the vaccine at -70º Celsius, and the complications when dividing the 975 doses that each portable refrigerator carries into lower loads, have delayed this effort.

Information about the coronavirus

- Here you can follow the last hour on the evolution of the pandemic

- Restrictions search engine: What can I do in my municipality?

- This is how the coronavirus curve evolves in the world

- Download the tracking application for Spain

- Guide to action against the disease