U.K. warns against giving Pfizer vaccine to people prone to severe allergic reactions

London — England's National Health Service warned on Wednesday that people "with a history of a significant allergic reaction to a vaccine, medicine or food" should not be given the COVID-19 vaccine developed by U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and Germany's BioNTech. The warning came after two health care workers who got the vaccine on Tuesday — among the first batch of people to receive an approved vaccine against the coronavirus disease in the western world — suffered adverse reactions.

NHS England said in a statement that both of the medical workers who experienced anaphylactoid reactions to the Pfizer vaccine had a "strong past history of allergic reactions," and that both had recovered after treatment.

"As is common with new vaccines the MHRA (U.K. drug regulator) have advised on a precautionary basis that people with a significant history of allergic reactions do not receive this vaccination after two people with a history of significant allergic reactions responded adversely yesterday," NHS national Medical Director for England, Professor Stephen Powis, said in the statement.

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