Side effects reported for the new vaccine

Health workers at Bartlett Regional Hospital have shown adverse medical reactions after receiving the Pfizer / BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, national, state and local health officials said at a press conference Wednesday morning. ..

Women who suffered side effects were simply identified as middle-aged health care workers.

“Late afternoon, I had one of my health care workers vaccinated. About 10 minutes later, she felt blushing, so she took her own benedryl,” she said at a press conference. Dr. Lindy Jones, Medical Director of Emergency Surgery at BRH, said. “She was short of breath when she arrived at the ER. She wasn’t capricious. Her heart rate rose.”

According to Jones, patients were treated for anaphylactic shock with an first dose of epinephrine and then a second dose of epinephrine before receiving the standard treatments for anaphylactic shock, epinephrine infusion and steroids. The patient was also given an antihistamine. The patient had no previous history of an allergic reaction to the vaccine, BRH spokesman Katie Bausler said in an email.

Dr. Anzink, Alaska’s Chief Medical Officer, said at a news conference that the hospital had notified the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention using a vaccine adverse event reporting system in response to side effects. Dr. Jay Butler, Deputy Director of Infectious Diseases at the CDC, said at a news conference that this was the first reaction of its kind in the United States, but similar reactions occurred elsewhere.

Bartlett Regional Hospital announced Wednesday night that a second hospital staff member also experienced mild adverse symptoms of the vaccine. Symptoms of other staff included swelling of the eyes, itching of the throat, and light-headedness after vaccination.

According to the hospital, he was treated with epinephrine, pepsid, and bendrial and felt normal within an hour.

“We recommend that you administer the vaccine in an environment where there are supplies available to treat anaphylaxis,” Butler said. “We are aware that there are two cases of anaphylaxis reported last week for vaccination with the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine in the United Kingdom.”

According to Butler, the CDC has clear guidelines and systems for monitoring those who are vaccinated, and BRH adheres to them closely and effectively.

“So far, this is the only case in the United States. There may be more,” Butler said. “The VAERS system can be used to report events that have occurred, following the example of Dr. Jones of Bartlett and his colleagues.”

According to Butler, mechanisms for protecting people from side effects have been in place for quite some time, and treatment guidelines are widely available.

“The advisory board has published guidelines available on the CDC website. We recommend that anyone with a severe response to the vaccine refrain from follow-up doses of any kind,” Butler said. Stated. “People who are vaccinated with the currently available COVID vaccine should be monitored for 15 minutes. Those who have a severe response to the vaccine or drug should be monitored for 30 minutes.”

According to Butler, coronavirus vaccination has been shown to be only partially effective with a single dose, but significantly less effective than a two-dose system.

“Anaphylaxis is a very rare but known side effect of any vaccine,” he said. Dr. June Rain, an executive at the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency in the United Kingdom, announced in a news release. “Most people are not infected with anaphylaxis, and the benefits of protecting people from COVID-19 outweigh the risks.

According to Jones, the first health care worker is in good condition and still recommends that others be vaccinated.

“She’s healthy and well. We’re just watching her,” Jones said. “I understand that she has stopped taking medication and plans to discharge her tonight, assuming she has no further symptoms.”

Healthcare workers vaccinated yesterday told the empire After receiving the shots, they got well. At least 144 people were vaccinated at Bartlett Regional Hospital as of Wednesday morning, Gribbon said. According to Bowsler, this reaction does not affect the work of the first patient.

• Reporter Michael S. Please contact Lockett ((757) 621-1197 or [email protected]).