NYC health care worker had ‘significant allergic reaction’ to COVID-19 vaccine

Michael Gartland, New York Daily News

NEW YORK — A New York City health care worker experienced a “significant allergic reaction” after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine, the city Health Department revealed Wednesday morning.

More than 30,000 people in the city have gotten the shot since it was first administered to a Queens ICU nurse last week, and so far there has only been one “adverse event” as a result, according to the department.

“We have received a single report of a serious adverse event in a health care worker,” the Health Department said in a written statement. “The health care worker, who had a significant allergic reaction, has been treated and is in stable condition.”

The agency declined to release any more details about the incident when contacted by the New York Daily News, but said in its statement that it is “closely tracking reports of more severe side effects in collaboration with the CDC.”

“This is the first serious adverse event we have encountered in New York City,” the agency said in its statement. “We will continue to move forward with the coronavirus vaccine distribution to ensure that health care workers and nursing home staff and residents are protected against COVID-19.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that people who’ve had a “severe allergic reaction” to the ingredients in a COVID-19 vaccine should not get the shot.

The federal government has so far approved two vaccines — one from Pfizer, which was first distributed last week, and another from Moderna, which came to the city on Monday.

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