US doctor suffers serious allergic reaction to moderna's vaccine: Report

Boston, Dec 26: A doctor in Boston with a shellfish allergy developed a severe allergic reaction immediately after receiving Moderna's coronavirus vaccine on Thursday.

Dr Hossein Sadrzadeh, a geriatric oncology fellow at Boston Medical Center, said he had a severe reaction almost immediately after being vaccinated, feeling dizzy and with a racing heart, the NYT reported.

However, Dr Sadrzadeh is well now. "Dr Sadrzadeh felt he was developing an allergic reaction and was allowed to self-administer his personal epi-pen. He was taken to the Emergency Department, evaluated, treated, observed and discharged. He is doing well today," David Kibbe, a spokesman at the Boston Medical Center, said in a statement.

This is the first severe reaction publicly linked to Moderna's vaccine, which is in its first week of a nationwide rollout.

A US Food and Drug Administration official said last week that the FDA is investigating around five allergic reactions that occurred after people were administered Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE's Covid-19 vaccine in the United States.

On the other hand, the UK regulators have already issued an advisory regarding the issue, urging people who have a history of "significant" allergic reactions to not get the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) issued precautionary advice to the National Health Service (NHS) after two health care staff members experienced allergic reactions.

Dr June Raine, chief executive of the MHRA, had testified to a parliamentary committee where she acknowledged that the cases of allergic reactions didn't feature in the extensive clinical trials.