Britain tells people with serious allergy to not take Pfizer vaccine

Regulators warned on Wednesday that people who have a history of serious allergic reactions shouldnt receive the new PfizerBioNTech vaccine as they investigate two adverse reactions that occurred on the first day of the UKs mass vaccination programThe UKs Medical and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency is looking into whether the reactions were linked to the vaccine The two people affected were staff members with the National Health Service who had a history of allergies and both are recovering Authorities have not specified what their reactions wereIn the meantime the regulator has issued the warning for anyone who has had a significant allergic reaction to a vaccine medicine or food That includes anyone who has been told to carry an adrenaline shot or others who have had potentially fatal allergic reactionsAs is common with new vaccines the MHRA have advised on a precautionary basis that people with a significant history of allergic reactions do not receive this vaccination Professor Stephen Powis medical director for the NHS in England said in a statement The medical regulatory agency also said vaccinations should not be carried out in facilities that dont have resuscitation equipmentPfizer and BioNTech said they were working with investigators Documents published by the two companies showed that people with a history of severe allergic reactions were excluded from trials Canada on Wednesday joined the UK in approving Pfizers vaccineMerkel backs more curbs as deaths riseGerman Chancellor Angela Merkel advocated tougher restrictions on public life and pleaded with her compatriots to cut down on socialising as the country reported its highest singleday death toll of the pandemic on Wednesday at 590 Germany is gradually moving toward a tighter lockdown after Christmas as new cases remain stubbornly high despite a partial shutdown since November 2 It counted 20815 new daily casesHong Kong bans inrestaurant dining againHong Kong is reimposing a ban on inrestaurant dining after 6 pm and closing gyms beauty parlours and other businesses and public venues for two weeks as it tries to get a grip on the latest wave of infections in the territory Restaurants may only provide takeout between 6 pm and 5 am and while open must limit numbers of patrons at 50 per cent of capacity with diners restricted to two per table starting ThursdayUS sanctions hinder access to shots IranIrans President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday that US sanctions are making it difficult for Iran to purchase medicine and health supplies from abroad including COVID19 vaccines needed to contain the worst outbreak in the Middle East While the US insists that medicines and humanitarian goods are exempt from sanctions curbs on trade have made many banks and firms hesitant to do business with IranSouth Korea records 2nd biggest spikeSouth Korea has reported 686 new cases tying its secondhighest daily jump since the emergence of the pandemic as a resurgence driven by the greater capital area threatens to erase hardwon gains against the virus The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said Wednesday that 536 of the new cases were reported in the Seoul metropolitan area The agency said 149 among 8699 active patients were in serious or critical conditionUAE says Chinese vaccine 86 effectiveThe UAE said on Wednesday Chinas Sinopharm vaccine tested in the federation of sheikhdoms is 86 per cent effective though it released few details The UAE home to Dubai and Abu Dhabi conducted a trial involving 31000 volunteers from 125 nations Volunteers between 18 and 60 years old received two doses of the vaccine over 28 days The UAEs Health and Prevention Ministry said the review of the analysis of the Phase III trials shows no serious safety concernsKeep scrolling to read more newsCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest newsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever