SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – Six San Diego healthcare workers had allergic reactions to vaccines they received at the Super Station downtown.
The reactions forced the site to temporarily close Wednesday. The county says it was an unusually high number of reactions in a short period of time, so they stopped using doses from that batch of vaccines. They would not provide details on how severe the reactions were.
The CDC says common side effects from the vaccine are expected. They include pain or swelling at the injection site, fever, chills, fatigue, and headache.
Severe reactions like anaphylaxis were only found in 21 out of 1.9 million first doses of the Pfizer vaccine, according to the CDC.
Dr. Peter Chin-Hong works in infectious disease at UC San Francisco. He says the allergic reactions at the San Diego Super Station should not deter others from getting the vaccine.
“I think it just really bad luck,” said Chin-Hong. “It's not a sign for the community to worry. It’s still really small in the big scheme of things.”
He says if you haven’t had reactions to vaccines in the past you likely won’t have any now.
“The risk is so small of a severe allergic reaction, particularly someone who has had a history of it,” said Chin-Hong. “It’s minute compared to the risk of just having COVID-19.”
The CDC says any mild side effects should go away in a few days. Patients who get vaccinated at the Super Station are monitored for at least 15 minutes in case of a reaction.