Health care worker in Alaska suffers adverse reaction to COVID-19 vaccine

Alaska saw an adverse reaction to the COVID-19 vaccine Tuesday night. A middle-aged health care worker in Juneau, who has no history of allergies, had an anaphylactic reaction that included flushing and shortness of breath 10 minutes after receiving the vaccine at a clinic at Bartlett Hospital. The symptoms were discovered during the 15-minute observation period recommended by the CDC.

The worker took Benadryl after the symptoms began and when they did not resolve, the worker was admitted to the Emergency Department at Bartlett. The patient was administered Pepcid, Benadryl and epinephrine through an intravenous drip and was kept overnight. The patient is "doing well" and in stable condition but is still in the hospital being monitored and will likely be released today.

This incident was reported Tuesday night to the CDC’s Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) database.

According to Anchorage Press, hospital-based frontline health care workers were the first Alaskans to receive their dose of COVID-19 vaccine yesterday. Vaccination clinics began in some communities on Tuesday and are continuing today. Distribution and delivery of the December allocation of 31,500 doses of Pfizer vaccine is also continuing today to the six hospitals who ordered the vaccine directly from Pfizer through the State of Alaska’s Immunization Program and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Representatives for The State of Alaska Department of Health and Social Services told the Anchorage Press that they have been in close communication with the CDC, and that the agency is providing guidance and support.

Alaska’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Anne Zink said "We expected that a side effect like this could occur after reports of anaphylaxis were made in England after people there received the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. All sites that are approved to provide vaccinations in Alaska must have medications on hand to deal with an allergic reaction and that was the case in Juneau."

Vaccine clinics in Alaska are continuing as planned. More clinics are planned this week at hospitals around the state. December’s vaccine allocation is limited and first available to Hospital-based front-line health care workers, long-term care facility residents and staff, EMS and fire personnel providing medical services, Community Health Aides/Practitioners and individuals who are required to perform vaccinations. Alaska health officials said there would be no changes to vaccine distribution plans following the incident, and that the woman had been excited to receive the vaccine.