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The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is investigating allergic reactions to the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine that were reported in multiple states after it began to be administered this week. Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, told reporters late Friday that the reactions had been reported in more than one state besides Alaska and that the FDA is probing five reactions. (Axelrod, 12/19)

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued new guidelines on Saturday to address reported severe allergic reactions to the coronavirus vaccine. The agency said it recently “learned of reports” of some people experiencing severe allergic reactions after getting inoculated. The agency defined a “severe reaction” as one where a person needs to be treated with epinephrine or requires hospitalization. (Williams, 12/19)

Five Alaska health care workers experienced adverse reactions after getting the COVID-19 vaccine this week — including two cases that were considered serious — but health officials continue to emphasize that such reactions are both rare and treatable while the vast majority of vaccine recipients were fine. ... Nationally by Friday night, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it had identified six cases of anaphylaxis, a life-threatening allergic reaction, according to presentation materials from federal health officials. (Krakow, 12/20)

After a thorough internal review, Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville is restarting their COVID-19 vaccination program as of Sunday. The program was put on pause Friday night after four employees experience reactions shortly after receiving the vaccine. Officials said there have been no other cases reported across Advocate Aurora Health. "So the immediate concern was, is there something wrong with that batch of vaccines, but after discussion with our health departments and also understanding that that same lot of vaccine was used at multiple other sites, both within and outside of advocate Aurora health, and no other serious concerns reported. We felt that there are really no concerns about the integrity of the vaccine," said Dr. Robert Citronberg, Executive Medical Director of Infectious Disease and Prevention. (Jones and Kirsch, 12/20)

For a fraction of people, getting these first COVID-19 vaccines could be unpleasant—more than the usual unpleasantness of getting a shot. They might make you feel sick for a day or two, even though they contain no whole viruses to actually infect you. Both the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines are quite “reactogenic”—meaning they stimulate a strong immune response that can cause temporary but uncomfortable sore arms, fevers, chills, and headaches. In other words, getting them might suck a little, but it’s nowhere near as bad as COVID-19 itself. (Zhang, 12/18)