Professor Chris Whitty recalls ‘several really dangerous near misses’ at start of vaccine rollout

‘Several near-miss anaphylactic reactions’ led to changes in jab rollout, chief medic says

Chris Whitty has spoken of “several really dangerous near misses” on the first day of the rollout of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine which led to changes in procedures when jabs are given.

“Several really severe near-miss anaphylactic reactions” occurred “right on day one of our vaccination rollout”, said England’s chief medical officer. It led to a 15-minute monitoring period being introduced after each jab.

Prof Whitty also predicted a “wide portfolio” of coronavirus vaccines could be available in two years but warned caution over the virus would be needed in the meantime due to the threat of new variants.

Speaking to an online Royal Society of Medicine event on Thursday, he said technology and the ability to tailor vaccines to variants would eventually “find a way through” but a level of risk would remain until then.

He added it was not realistic to expect any policy, such as border restrictions, to completely stop the import of variants to the UK.

Prof Whitty said he discussed allergic reactions linked to the Pfizer vaccine with June Raine, the head of Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), at midnight at the end of day one of the rollout.

Read more:

• Coronavirus news live: Latest lockdown updates 
• What am I allowed to do over the Easter weekend?
• Lockdown roadmap dates: What is reopening and when?
• Pfizer vaccine produces ‘off the scale’ immune response, study finds
• WHO chief calls for deeper probe into lab leak Covid origin theory

“This was small numbers – we had already had several really dangerous near-misses,” he said.

“That is the reason why if you have Pfizer, you have to sort of sit around for 15 minutes.”

On 9 December, the UK’s drug regulator warned that people with a history of “significant” allergic reactions should not receive the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

It had previously told patients they should not get the Pfizer jab if allergic to the active substance or any other ingredients in it.

But they expanded advice after two NHS staff members given doses on the first day of the rollout both suffered an allergic reaction, along with another report of a possible allergic reaction.

Both NHS staff members were understood to have a “strong past history” of allergic reactions and both recovered after treatment.

On 30 December, updated MHRA advice said only those with a history of severe allergic reactions to ingredients in the Pfizer vaccine should not receive it. Those with any other allergies, such as to food, can have the vaccine, it said.

“Widespread use of the vaccine now suggests that severe allergic reactions to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine are very rare,” the MHRA says.

“Anaphylaxis can also be a very rare side effect associated with most other vaccines.”

Prof Whitty noted a second potential side effect involving possible blood clots linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine had not been proven but “we should keep an open mind on that”.

He also repeated his assertion that coronavirus is not going to go away, saying the future will be about working out how to “minimise mortality whilst not maximising the economic and particularly social impacts on our fellow citizens”.

Covid will eventually have to be managed in a similar way to serious seasonal viruses such as flu, he said.

“It is not flu, it is a completely different disease, but the point I am making is here is a seasonal, very dangerous disease that kills thousands of people every year, and society has chosen a particular way around it.”

While he said he could not see a system of local lockdowns returning, the emergence of a variant able to have unconstrained growth could mean an “alarm cord” must be pulled.

Prof Whitty added: “The only area where I think we technically are going to have to pull the alarm cord is if a variant of concern comes in that we can see is now back to a situation it could manage unconstrained growth, because the immunological response to it is just not there.”

The relaxation of restrictions was likely to result in the R number rising above 1 and a greater risk of variants spreading, he warned.