Coronavirus Qld: State urges caution after bad reactions to COVID jab

Australia’s top medical and drug officials have told Queenslanders prone to allergic reactions to go ahead with a COVID-19 jab. It comes just hours after state health authorities advised otherwise, saying there had been four bad reactions in the state in 24 hours.

The nation’s top medical and drug officials have told Queenslanders with severe allergic reactions not to delay getting a COVID-19 vaccine, just hours after the state’s Health Minister urged them to hold off.

The State Government this morning said four people in Queensland had suffered an allergic reaction to the AstraZeneca vaccine in the past 48 hours.

Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said people who had previously experienced serious anaphylactic reactions should hold off on getting the jab.

Other people without a history of anaphylaxis will be monitored for 30 minutes – 15 minutes longer than initially planned – in the immediate aftermath of their vaccination.

Health Minister Yvette D’Ath advised Queenslanders with a history of severe allergic reactions to delay having their COVID vaccination. Picture: Nigel Hallett

“I want to assure people that we have complete confidence in our vaccines here in Australia,” Ms D’Ath said.

The issue was to be raised by Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk on a national level today.

Queensland Health Director-General John Wakefield said there had been four cases had been in Ipswich (two cases) and the others in Bundaberg and Toowoomba.

He said all the four cases were in people who had a history of severe allergic reactions or anaphylaxis.

“This is week four of our vaccination program but it’s only the second week of our AstraZeneca rollout,” he said.

Queensland Health Director-General Dr John Wakefield. File picture: Mark Cranitch.

He said the four cases were the first instance of allergic reactions out of about 3000 AstraZeneca vaccines that have been rolled out in Queensland so far.

“What we’ve put in place while the TGA explores this is an extra blanket of safety, which is monitoring people for an extra 15 minutes,” he said.

“The right thing for us to do is preserve the trust of Queenslanders and add that extra blanket of safety while we work this out,” Dr Wakefield said.

“We expect with vaccinations that a small number of people will get anaphylaxis.”

Dr Wakefield said there had been one case of anaphylaxis caused by the Pfizer vaccine, and that the overall level of anaphylaxis was “perhaps more than we would expect”.

However, Federal Health Department boss Brendan Murphy, the former Chief Medical Officer, and head of the Therapeutic Goods Administration John Skerrit said Queensland people with severe allergic reactions should not delay getting the jab.

Prof Murphy even advised that the reaction was known to happen in any vaccine, not specifically COVID-19 jabs.

“If people are eligible at present and have a history of anaphylaxis we recommend ... that they should not delay vaccination, but they should discuss their vaccination with their doctor,” Prof Murphy said.

“The should be vaccinated in a clinical setting where they can be observed for 30 minutes under medical supervision.”

Department of Health secretary Brendan Murphy. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Joel Carrett

Prof Skerritt said while uncommon, there were cases of anaphylaxis for people who received any type of vaccine in very rare instances.

“From the very first days of the Pfizer there were a few, a small number of people who showed anaphylactic reactions,” he said.

“This is not something about COVID vaccines. Any medicine vaccine in a very small number of people can cause this anaphylactic reaction.”

Prof Skerritt said there had only been 19 reports of anaphylaxis nationally, 14 in Pfizer and 5 in AstraZeneca.

“There appears to be a cluster in Queensland. Clusters happen. It isn’t something special about what’s happening in Queensland,” Prof Skerritt said.

Prof Murphy said there had been more examples in Pfizer than AstraZeneca jabs so far. He said just one in 10 per million people had an anaphylactic reaction to any vaccine.

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said Queensland indicated the advice was a temporary measure while the TGA undertook an assessment.

“We have briefed them that the TGA has assessed and it will be up to them how to respond,” he said.

Ms D’Ath said not all supply of the vaccination was being administered, for those who need to come back for their second dose.

“Both Pfizer and AstraZeneca are safe vaccines, there’s always exclusions,” she said.

Dr Wakefield said there had been a handful of bad reactions to the AstraZeneca vaccine in Queensland. Picture: JOEL SAGET/AFP

“This is not new news in the sense of we are seeing allergic reactions, we’re not surprised we’re seeing allergic reactions but we want to let the public know.”

There have been six new cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, all in hotel quarantine.

There are 41 active cases in Queensland.

Ms D’Ath said there had been 428 close contacts of the doctor from the Princess Alexandra Hospital, with 77 per cent of results showing negative test results.

Close contacts of cases in the Hotel Grand Chancellor have also tested negative so far.

Ms D’Ath said anyone in the Hotel Grand Chancellor who is not staying on floor one can leave from midday today if they have a negative result, while those staying on level one would have to stay for a longer period.

She said anyone who has recently travelled to New South Wales to check the NSW Health site and follow their protocols.