NEW YORK (Reuters) – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is investigating about five allergic reactions that occurred after people in the United States administered Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE’s COVID-19 vaccine this week, a top FDA official said late Friday.
Dr. Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said at a news conference that the allergic reactions had been reported in more than one state, including Alaska.
Marks also said a chemical called polyethylene glycol (PEG) that is an ingredient in the Pfizer vaccine – as well as the Moderna Inc vaccine approved on Friday – could be “the culprit” that triggered the reactions.
Marks said allergic reactions to PEG may be slightly more common than previously believed.
The cases in Alaska were comparable to two cases reported in Britain last week.
The UK medical regulator has said that anyone with a history of anaphylaxis or severe allergic reactions to a drug or food should not receive the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.
But the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has said that most Americans with allergies should be safe to receive the vaccine. It said only people who have previously had severe allergic reactions to vaccines or ingredients in this particular vaccine should avoid the injection.
On Friday, the FDA said that the Moderna vaccine should not be given to individuals with a known history of serious allergic reactions to any part of the injection.
The regulator also requires that appropriate medical treatments for immediate allergic reactions must be available when the injection is administered in the event of an anaphylactic reaction.
Pfizer was not immediately available for comment.
Reporting by Michael Erman; Edited by Diane Craft and Daniel Wallis