US doctor develops severe allergic reaction to Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, reports NYT

A doctor in Boston with a shellfish allergy developed a severe allergic reaction after receiving Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine on Thursday, the New York Times reported, citing the doctor.

Dr Hossein Sadrzadeh, a geriatric oncology fellow at Boston Medical Center, said he had a severe reaction almost immediately after being vaccinated, feeling dizzy and with a racing heart, the NYT reported.

It is the first severe reaction publicly linked to Moderna’s vaccine, which is in its first week of a nationwide rollout.

David Kibbe, a spokesman at the Boston Medical Center, said in a statement that Dr Sadrzadeh “felt he was developing an allergic reaction and was allowed to self-administer his personal epi-pen. He was taken to the Emergency Department, evaluated, treated, observed and discharged. He is doing well today.”

A US Food and Drug Administration official said last week that the FDA is investigating around five allergic reactions that occurred after people were administered Pfizer and BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine in the US.

(Edits by EP News Bureau)