London, Dec 9: Regulators in the United Kingdom said on Wednesday that they have received at least two reports of possible allergic reactions from people who took part in the first day of Britain’s mass vaccination programme against COVID-19.
This came to light after Dr June Raine, head of the UK’s medical regulatory agency, MHRA, reported about those reactions while testifying before a parliamentary committee on Wednesday, Al Jazeera reported.
The UK became the first country to start vaccinating people against COVID-19 and the first to receive the doses of the Pfizer vaccine have been the elderly people and medical workers.
Raine’s comments came as part of a general discussion of how her agency will continue to monitor people who receive the Pfizer vaccine, which was authorised for emergency use last week.
Health officials said people who have a “significant history’’ of allergic reactions should not receive the new vaccine while experts investigate the reactions.
Professor Stephen Powis, national medical director for the National Health Service in England, said health authorities were acting on a recommendation from the MHRA.
As many as 70 hospitals in the UK started the vaccine programme on Tuesday.