While we wait for our turn to roll up our sleeves and offer our deltoid muscles, giving way to advances in science, it is very possible that dozens of doubts related to the
coronavirus
vaccine
assail our heads.
For most of them you will find an answer on the web that the Ministry of Health has prepared to solve the most frequent unknowns, but there is an issue that does not quite leave a considerable percentage of the population calm: that of allergies.
Is this vaccine safe in all cases?
Are there allergy sufferers who should consult before receiving the first dose?
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The doubts arose after two health workers suffered
"anaphylactoid reactions" after the administration of the first dose
, in the first week of vaccination in the United Kingdom.
Both people, who already had a history of severe allergic reactions and would not leave home without an adrenaline auto-injector, recovered.
But what happened prompted the British drug regulatory authority to issue a recommendation: avoid giving the vaccine to patients who had ever had an anaphylactic reaction to a food, drug or vaccine.
The news was reason enough to make those with allergies uneasy, so the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology tried to put order with a manifesto that said that "
mild and moderate allergic patients should not be excluded from the vaccine
."
They added that "the benefit of the vaccine clearly outweighs the risk of serious development of covid-19, including more than 30% of the population suffering from allergic diseases."
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The answer is already clear: both in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States and in Spain, the contraindication of British regulators has been further limited, and they only advise against the vaccine to people who have presented an anaphylactic reaction to a previous dose of the Pfizer and BioNtech vaccine, or to any of its components.
"Although what happened in the United Kingdom warned a bit, it has not been repeated," says epidemiologist José Tuells, director of the Balmis chair of Vaccination at the University of Alicante and
vaccine
coordinator
of the Spanish Society of Public Health and Administration Sanitary (SESPAS).
"The vaccine against covid-19 has the same contraindications in allergy sufferers as any other, it is only not recommended in people who have had allergic reactions to any of its components," he says.
According to the experts, everything points to the fact that the few cases of allergy that they believe could occur would be related to a single element.
As Belén de la Hoz, vice president of the Spanish Society of Allergology and Clinical Immunology (SEAIC) explains, the vaccine “contains stabilizers and certain substances, including polyethylene glycol (PEG), which is an excipient.
Allergy with systemic reactions to this compound is very rare, but it is believed that it may be the one that caused this reaction in British toilets ”, he points out.
To heal in health ...
And what happens if we are allergic to that or another element of the vaccine but we do not know?
Well, to heal in health, there are
two
other
cases in which to take precautions
.
One is that of those who have had an anaphylactic reaction "to another vaccine or to a drug that has been administered intramuscularly", responds Amós García Rojas, president of the Spanish Association of Vaccination (AEV).
The other group that should comment on their case is that of those who have had the same severe or anaphylactic reaction on some occasion "without knowing reliably what caused it, or who have had several episodes of anaphylaxis, since usually if you have several episodes it is that you do not you know what you are allergic to and you get back in touch with that agent, ”explains De la Hoz, head of the Allergology Service at the Ramón y Cajal University Hospital.
But what is anaphylaxis?
"There are many definitions, but basically it is a systemic reaction, which affects two or more organs, and which has a very clear condition, which is that it endangers the life of the patient," responds the vice president of the SEAIC, adding that the data indicate that although cases are increasing - "it is estimated that there are between 50 and 112 episodes of anaphylaxis annually per 100,000 inhabitants" - mortality from anaphylaxis is low, one patient in four million.
Do you need a previous allergy test?
You may never have felt like you are out of breath after snacking on peanuts or taking a penicillin medication.
But what if you've never had anaphylaxis but sneeze like crazy when a cat is around, just eat a couple of barnacles to get hives or your eyes get irritated when pollen levels rise?
Well, you can sit down with all the confidence in the world to be administered the vaccine.
In fact, as Francisco Álvarez, coordinator of the Vaccine Advisory Committee of the Spanish Association of Pediatrics (CAV-AEP) comments, “
it is not necessary to carry out allergy tests before receiving the vaccine
, the vaccination team will only be informed of the allergies that occur suffer so that they are prevented ”.
What is recommended, both for this and for any other vaccine, and whether you are allergic or not, is to wait between 15 and 30 minutes before going home.
"
If there is a reaction, it
happens
quickly, not after an hour,
" recalls José Tuells.
And precisely in order to act in the event of such a reaction, the vaccination site always has to have a basic team "with adrenaline and personnel trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation", adds the coordinator of the CAV-AEP.
Another recommendation to take into account is to leave the vaccine for later “in case you have a fever or are suffering from an acute infectious disease.
But once the situation is corrected, you can perfectly vaccinate ”, assures the president of the AEV.
"The worst adverse effect is not administering it"
If you are over 16 years of age, not pregnant, and have never had an anaphylactic reaction to another vaccine, an injectable drug, an unknown agent, or some component of BNT162b2, you are ready to receive your doses so that immunity can develop against covid-19.
Will it be sewing and singing?
Probably yes.
The only side effects you may notice are pain where the dose was given, some fever, fatigue or a headache.
In any case, there is no need to worry because they pass in two days at most.
And this vaccine is not the one that has the most side effects.
“As an example, one of those that produces the most adverse effects is diphtheria, tetanus and acellular pertussis (DTPa), and it is administered without problems.
It's no wonder vaccines have side effects.
In fact, they all have them, only some more and others less ”, says the SESPAS vaccine coordinator.
And, in any case, as García Rojas recalls, "the worst adverse effect of the vaccine is not administering it."