People who are allergic to certain foods or medications should still get vaccinated against COVID-19, as most reactions can be treated, a Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital medical expert said on Thursday.
Dermatologist Chung Wen-hung (鐘文宏), who is also director of the Taoyuan hospital’s Drug Hypersensitivity Clinical and Research Center, urged people to get vaccinated as soon as they are allowed to, because the virus is more deadly than vaccine-induced allergic reactions.
Most allergic reactions triggered by vaccines can be treated, Chung said, adding that the hospital has received many inquiries about this issue after the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) announced an expanded vaccination program.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
From Tuesday next week, people aged 75 or older, residents and staff at long-term care facilities, and people on dialysis are to be eligible for vaccination, the CECC has said.
Currently, only medical personnel, epidemic prevention workers and people in other high-risk jobs are on priority lists.
At least 759,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses had been administered in Taiwan as of Thursday, most of them from AstraZeneca.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
So far, Taiwan has reported one case of blood clotting and more than 100 incidents of severe allergic reactions, all of which were related to the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Some people might have an acute allergic reaction, such as hives or shortness of breath, shortly after a jab, while others might get a rash or a more serious response a few days after the injection, Chung said.
However, such symptoms typically subside after treatment, he said.
Taiwanese are more prone to medicine-induced allergic reactions than people from other countries, he said.
Chung did not explain why, but said that allergies to food and medication usually indicate a high sensitivity to external substances.
Chen Wei-ti (陳偉迪), another dermatologist at Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, said that vaccine-induced allergic reactions are linked to excipients, a substance added to a vaccine as a stabilizer or for other purposes.
Vaccines manufactured by AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson contain an excipient called polysorbate, while vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna use polyethylene glycol (PEG), Chen said.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advise people who are allergic to polysorbate to not get AstraZeneca or Johnson & Johnson vaccines, but use brands that use PEG, Chung said.
Similarly, those who are allergic to PEG should not get the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna jabs, he cited the US agency as saying.
People should always inform medical personnel of allergies before receiving any vaccine, he said.
Anyone who has an allergic reaction after a first dose should consider a different brand for their second dose, he said.
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