Alaska officials said that two health care workers suffered serious allergic reactions to the new Pfizer Covid vaccine in the first days of the vaccination rollout.
One of the workers had to remain under medical observation for two nights after the serious but not life-threatening allergies.
Doctors said that the nurse felt “flushed “ for minutes after receiving the vaccine at the Bartlett Regional Hospital then other symptoms followed including elevated cardiac rate and shortness of breath.
The other worker was less affected and felt great after receiving treatment for minor symptoms.
“We expected that a side effect like this could occur after reports of anaphylaxis were made in England after people there received the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine,” Alaska Chief Medical Officer Dr. Anne Zink said.
“All sites that are approved to provide vaccinations in Alaska must have medications on hand to deal with an allergic reaction and that was the case in Juneau.”
