Malta’s Superintendent for Public Health takes questions from Times of Malta readers.
I read some articles about nurses in the UK who took the vaccine and had severe complications due to some allergies they had but there was no specific mention regarding their allergy. It was advised that if one suffers from allergies to certain medicines or food one should avoid the vaccine. I am allergic to penicillin (and blue cheese because of penicillin). Is it safe for me to take the vaccine? – Debbie Xuereb
Severe allergic reaction (like anaphylaxis) to any component of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is a contraindication to vaccination. While reports of allergic reactions following vaccination outside the clinical trials are further investigated, persons with a history of severe allergic reaction (such as anaphylaxis) to any other vaccine or injectable therapy (for example, intramuscular, intravenous or subcutaneous) should have a risk assessment to determine the type of reaction