A female healthcare worker from Alaska was hospitalized Wednesday after having a "serious" allergic reaction to the first dose of Pfizer's Wuhan coronavirus vaccine.
"The person was still in the hospital on Wednesday morning, under observation," the New York Times reports. "Government officials were scrambling on Wednesday to learn more about the case. The worker had no history of drug allergies but it was unclear whether he or she suffered from other types of allergies, according to one person familiar with the case."
Earlier this week the first doses of the vaccine, which require a second follow-up dose, were distributed to healthcare workers across the country.
Moderna is waiting for approval of their version from the Food and Drug Administration, which could come on Friday. Reuters recently reported a handful of adverse reactions during clinical trials.
"The FDA staff said that serious side effects in the trial of the vaccine represented medical events that occur in the general population at a similar frequency as observed in the study. The FDA did flag the possibility that the vaccine was contributing to Bell’s palsy, a type of facial paralysis also reported by participants in the Pfizer trial," the story states. "Moderna reported four cases of Bell’s palsy, including three among people who had the vaccine and 1 in the placebo group. The company said that three of the cases had resolved itself. Although the FDA said that the trial participants with Bell’s palsy had predisposing factors, the 'potential contribution of the vaccine to the manifestations of these events of facial palsy cannot be ruled out'. Pfizer reported six cases of Bell’s palsy, including 4 in the vaccine arm."
