How safe are covid-19 vaccines? latest numbers

Results from 64,900 vaccines:    Allergy Risk?

Hives (urticaria) photo credit: James Heilman, MD, Wikipedia, "Hives"

​Journal of the American Medical Association Research Study: March 2021

(reference and link to the study are at the bottom of the page)

Easy-to-Read Results Summary:

- Researchers did this study based on the fact that many are nervous to get the vaccines due to having allergies themselves and all the media-hype regarding allergic reactions causes some people to avoid the vaccines.

So... what is the truth?
- Study was done at Massachusetts General Brigham (the Original Harvard hospital!)
​- Studied what happened the 3 days after the first vaccine (the time of highest chances for allergy symptoms)
- 40% got Pfizer, 60% Moderna

Mild allergic reactions
- 1 out of every 50 vaccines caused mild allergic reactions (itch, hives, swelling)
     - Moderna (2.2% of the shots caused mild allergy) vs Pfizer (2% of the shots): not much difference
- 98% of all people had no allergic reactions at all (that is a nice, safe number)

Significant allergic reactions (anaphylaxis)
- Occurred in 1 out of every 3700 Pfizer shots (i.e. .027% of the shots)
- Occurred in 1 out of every 4300 Moderna shots (i.e. .023% of the shots)
- In total, there were 5 anaphylactic reactions per 20,000 vaccines (that is a really safe number compared to many other drugs)

Pfizer and Moderna were pretty similar in how often they caused allergic reactions: very low numbers

​Timing for significant allergic reaction (anaphylaxis)
- An average of 17 minutes after the shot
- The range was from immediately after the shot up to 2 hours later at the latest

Anaphylaxis severity
- 7 of the 16 patients had mild skin reactions
- 9 of the 16 patients had "measurable" but not life-threatening reactions
- 3 did not seek any medical attention
- 1 went to the ICU and recovered 
- 9 out of 16 patients needed an epinephrine shot (EpiPen) and all recovered
- There were no severe anaphylactic reactions (having shock or requiring intubation)

Who was most likely to get anaphylaxis?
- Out of 16 patients in total, 5 (31%) had a history of anaphylaxis
- 10 out of 16 (61%) had a history of allergies (probably not significantly different than the usual population)

"I have a history of anaphylaxis, what is my risk?"
- Assuming there were 4000 individuals with severe food or drug allergies in this group (this is the expected #)
- Only 5 out of 4000 people with a history of anaphylaxis get an anaphylactic reaction (1 out of every 800)
- Knowing that this is a group of people who are used to planning for anaphylaxis and should have an EpiPen, and who know they have to use it when exposed to a known allergen (like me when I accidentally eat shrimp), that is an incredibly low number.
- I took my EpiPen with me when I got mine. No problems! Only 1 out of every 800 times would someone need to use it

Bottom lines
- Since the results were reported by the employees themselves, and not confirmed by doctors, we cannot ensure that these were truly anaphylactic reactions (people do tend to overestimate such responses = my opinion)
- The researchers, Harvard-famous allergy experts, stated, "... the overall risk of anaphylaxis to an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine remains extremely low"

If you have had an anaphylactic reaction in the past (like I have), I recommend:
- Just take your EpiPen and wait a while after your shot if you have had anaphylaxis before. However, don't sweat it.

You have a higher chance of getting into a car accident on the way to the shot than you do of getting an anaphylactic reaction

Did you get your vaccine? How did you do?
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Author

Don Thomas, MD author of "The Lupus Encyclopedia" and "The Lupus Secrets"

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​Reference: Blumenthal KG, Robinson LB, Camargo CA, et al. Acute Allergic Reactions to mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines. JAMA. Published online March 08, 2021. doi:10.1001/jama.2021.3976