My son sought my advice before having the vaccine over side effect concerns, as he is allergic to certain antibiotics and is on medication for kidney problems (hence being in the vulnerable group). He is not diabetic (well not diagnosed as such).
My research via the Govt website indicated that for the Oxford vaccine there were not contraindications for any antibiotics, and that "that individuals with previous allergy to an identified drug, including anaphylaxis, can receive the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.". For the Pfizer one, the advice was similar plus a warning that a specific antibiotic was used during its production.
What he did, and what I would suggest, is to take medication with him to show the clinicians responsible for giving the vaccine. He also consulted his GP and hospital consultant via email beforehand (though actually got their OK afterwards!).
These vaccines are new and biology works on probabilities - so there is always a tiny chance that your specific conditions and cocktails of drugs might interact adversely with the vaccine and its carrier fluid, given that we're all different. However, the pre-rollout trials should have identified any higher probability issues and with 13M vaccinated in the UK so far there's now an even bigger pool to pick up things the trials missed, so the clinicians should be well placed to advise.
Regarding the impact on blood glucose... I'm no doctor but the amount of sucrose in an injection must be negligible - so I think any blood glucose increases would be owing to the body's immune response to the vaccine, as with a response to a naturally acquired "illness". For those of us who have to closely monitor blood glucose (fortunately not me) I assume this would be a "known issue".
I hope this helps, and excuse me if I am being the "pepper doctor" here
🙂
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For info - the advice I found for my son:
I have looked up the "contraindications" of the two vaccines. Of the two, the Pfizer one involves some antibiotic in its production but there should be negligible presence. The Astrazeneca one involves no antibiotic. There is nothing mentioning penicillin allergy risks. However, there may of course be conflicts with drugs you are taking, or you may have allergies to other stuff. Here is a list of what I understand to be the inactive ingredients in each of the vaccines - so you'd need to check this list against your allergies, and see if the drugs you are taking advise against also taking any of these substances, and also the allergy and antibiotic advice. (The term "urticarial" for itchy skin derives from the same 'Urtica' which is the Latin name for nettle - so a fancy word for nettle-rash):
Pfizer:
- ALC-0315 = (4-hydroxybutyl) azanediyl)bis (hexane-6,1-diyl)bis(2-hexyldecanoate)
- ALC-0159 = 2-[(polyethylene glycol)-2000]-N,N-ditetradecylacetamide
- 1,2-Distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine
- cholesterol
- potassium chloride
- potassium dihydrogen phosphate
- sodium chloride
- disodium hydrogen phosphate dihydrate
- sucrose
- water for injections
Note, this vaccine contains polyethylene glycol (PEG) and should be noted when considering for use in patients with an allergy to PEG
Allergies and reactions to the first dose of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine
Public Health England’s Immunisation Against Infectious Disease (the Green book) states that the BSACI advises the following:
- Individuals with a localised urticarial (itchy) skin reaction (without systemic symptoms) to the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine should receive the second dose of vaccine with prolonged observation (30 minutes) in a setting with full resuscitation facilities (e.g. a hospital).
- Individuals with non-allergic reactions (vasovagal episodes, non-urticarial skin reaction or non-specific symptoms) to the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine can receive the second dose of vaccine in any vaccination setting.
Antibiotics
Public Health England’s Immunisation Against Infectious Disease (the Green book) states that individuals with previous allergy to an identified drug, including anaphylaxis, can receive the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.
The manufacturer’s information about antibiotic content states that:
- Kanamycin is used during the manufacturing process of one of the raw materials used in the vaccine production; however it is not expected to be in detectable quantities in the final product presentation.
- No other antibiotics (such as penicillins, sulphonamides and neomycin) are used during the manufacturing process.
- They cannot guarantee that minute amounts of substances are not contained in raw materials obtained from their suppliers.
Source of info: https://www.sps.nhs.uk/articles/excipients-information-for-pfizer-biontech-covid-19-vaccine/
Astrazeneca:
- L-Histidine
- L-Histidine hydrochloride monohydrate
- Magnesium chloride hexahydrate
- Polysorbate 80
- Ethanol
- Sucrose
- Sodium chloride
- Disodium edetate dihydrate
- Water for injections
The vaccine contains less than 1 mmol sodium (23 mg) per dose, i.e. essentially ‘sodium-free’.
Allergies and reactions to the first dose of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine
Public Health England’s Immunisation Against Infectious Disease (the Green book) states that the British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology (BSACI) advises the following:
- Individuals with a history of immediate onset-anaphylaxis to multiple classes of drugs or an unexplained anaphylaxis should not be vaccinated with the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine. The AstraZeneca vaccine can be used as an alternative (if not otherwise contraindicated).
- Individuals with a localised urticarial (itchy) skin reaction (without systemic symptoms) to the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine should receive the second dose of vaccine with prolonged observation (30 minutes) in a setting with full resuscitation facilities (e.g. a hospital).
- Individuals with non-allergic reactions (vasovagal episodes, non-urticarial skin reaction or non-specific symptoms) to the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine can receive the second dose of vaccine in any vaccination setting.
Antibiotics
Public Health England’s Immunisation Against Infectious Disease (the Green book) states that individuals with previous allergy to an identified drug, including anaphylaxis, can receive the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.
Source of info: https://www.sps.nhs.uk/articles/excipients-information-for-astrazeneca-covid-19-vaccine/
Sorry to drown you in detail.
Bottom line is that no treatment is 100% safe - except maybe one that is designed to kill you, ha ha!
They tested the vaccines against a representative sample of people to get the probability of its effectiveness and list of possible side effects and their probability. As it is rolled out no doubt more will be found out from the huger sample size. It's the best they can do... You won't know until you've had it if it will cause you problems, but unless you know you already have a reaction to something that's in it the probability is you'll be fine.
