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‘Persons with mild/moderate allergies can get vaccines’

31 Aug 2021

  • Int’l expert recommends those with severe allergies to consult a doc
BY Buddhika Samaraweera There are no restrictions on those with mild or moderate allergies in getting their Covid-19 vaccines, Royal Free Hospital, England consultant in clinical immunology and allergy Prof. Suranjith Seneviratne said yesterday (31). Speaking to The Morning, he noted that during the early days of the vaccination rollout, the refusal by certain vaccination teams to give Covid-19 vaccines to people who mentioned that they have a food or medication allergy may have sent out an incorrect message that the said vaccines are not safe for those with various allergies. “However, there are no restrictions on those with mild or moderate allergies in getting their Covid-19 vaccines. When considering those with more severe allergies, they are advised to discuss their past and current clinical symptoms with a doctor, and in almost all such cases, a suitable plan could be formulated so as to enable them to safely receive both doses of a Covid-19 vaccine,” he added. He further noted that it was important for all eligible individuals to get the Covid-19 vaccines as the risk of complications from getting Covid-19 is so many times higher than any allergy-related issues arising from receiving any of the authorised Covid-19 vaccines. In recent days, there have been reports of people with certain aeroallergen (airborne substance such as pollen or spores, house dust mite, or mould, which triggers an allergic reaction), food, or medication-based allergies being reluctant to get their Covid-19 vaccines when invited to receive this. According to data available in the Epidemiology Unit, Sri Lanka has administered a total of 20,126,990 doses of Covid-19 vaccines, including 15,759,087 doses of Sinopharm, 2,267,282 doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca, 184,577 doses of Sputnik V, 491,580 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech, and 1,424,464 doses of Moderna Covid-19 vaccines. However, about 200 Covid-19 deaths have been reported daily over the past few days. It was reported that many of them had not received the Covid-19 vaccines.


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