The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has commenced investigations into reports of allergic reactions to the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine in various states, after its administration began this week.
The Director, FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Peter Marks, made this disclosure on Friday.
Marks stated that asides Alaska, there were reports of the reactions in other states.
He explained that the FDA is currently investigating five reactions.
“We are working hand in hand with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and we’ve actually been working closely with our United Kingdom colleagues, who of course reported the allergic reaction. I think we’ll be looking at all the data we can from each of these reactions to sort out exactly what happened, and we’ll also be looking to try to understand which component of the vaccine might be helping to produce them,” Marks stated.
Read also: India’s COVID-19 Tally Surpasses 10 Million – Health Ministry
I think we have, at this point, the right mitigation strategy, with the availability of treatment, for a severe allergic reaction being at the ready, and we’ll continue to monitor it very closely,” he went on.
While the Director pointed out that the FDA was not sure what triggered the reactions, he suggested a chemical known as polyethylene glycol, present in the vaccines produced by Pfizer and BioNTech, as well as by Moderna, “could be the culprit.”
He further stated that the reactions some people have experienced could be more common than initially thought.
“We’ll obviously be monitoring very closely what’s going on. We’re working very closely with the CDC on these, and there have been meetings between the CDC and FDA pretty much every day this week making sure we’re keeping very close track of what’s going on,” Mark said.
The allergic reactions reported in the state of Alaska comes after two similar reported cases in Britain, last week.
It will be recalled that Britain is the first nation to approve the Pfizer’s vaccine.
According to the FDA’s current guidance, most Americans experiencing allergies should be cleared to take the vaccine, however, those who have had serious reactions to other vaccines should not get vaccinated.
The FDA also said, on Friday, that persons with a history of serious allergic reactions to any elements of the Moderna shot, should steer clear of obtaining that vaccine.