A Small Study Sheds Doubt on Some Allergic Reactions to COVID Vaccines

Many people have reactions to medications and vaccines, but some of those reported after COVID shots may not be allergic reactions at all. A recent study looked at patients who reported experiencing an allergic reaction to their first dose of the Pfizer vaccine. "Almost all of them had some type of symptoms, and the typical symptoms observed were not truly allergic but could mimic an allergic reaction."

Dr. David KH, president of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology, says the study yielded unexpected results. Researchers administered either a second dose of the Pfizer vaccine or a placebo shot to each of the 16 participants and monitored their reactions. "As it turned out, there were more people who had reactions to the placebo than to the actual vaccine." Only three out of the 16 participants were deemed to have experienced an actual allergic reaction to their second Pfizer shot.

"This is something now being recognized as quite common for patients who report what they think are allergic reactions. The terminology for this phenomenon is called immunization stress-related response syndrome." These findings don't mean people aren't experiencing symptoms after receiving a vaccine; rather, an innate allergy may not be the cause.