Health worker who had the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine now in intensive care after going into anaphylactic shock
- Health worker was intensive care after getting the vaccine at the Gold Coast
- The worker has a history of anaphylaxis and was treated in intensive care
- About 300,000 doses of Covid vaccines will be distributed across the country
A health worker has gone into anaphylactic shock after receiving the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine.
The worker was intensive care after getting the vaccine at Gold Coast University Hospital on Thursday.
A Gold Coast Health spokesperson said the worker has a history of anaphylaxis and recovered quickly.
Pictured: A nurse holding up a Covid vaccine at Metro North Health facility in Brisbane on March 1
‘The response was prompt and effective and the patient received the appropriate treatment and has since recovered,’ they told 9 News.
‘Anaphylaxis has been identified as a possible side effect from any vaccination.
‘Staff are well prepared for this and stringent processes are in place to manage such reactions.’
People who suffer from allergic reactions or anaphylaxis must tell health care staff before getting the vaccine.
About 9,360 doses of the vaccine were delivered to Queensland health officials this week, but only 22 were administered.
Queensland Deputy Premier Steven Miles said safety was more important that administering hundreds of vaccinations quickly.
‘Whether you get an extra hundred or two in that first few weeks, that’s less important than getting it right, making it safe,’ he said.
Pictured: Nurses at the Gold Coast University Hospital being instructed ahead of the Pfizer vaccine roll out in the Gold Coast, February 22
About 30,000 people were vaccinated across Australia as of Friday, according to figures released on Sunday.
Those who got the shots included 8,110 aged care and disability residents from 117 care facilities, the national Health Department figures showed.
The federal government previously said it hoped to be giving 60,000 injections per week by the end of February, with about four million people immunised by early April.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the arrival of the first 300,000 doses of the AstraZenaca vaccine in Sydney on Sunday would help speed up the process.
The vaccine, developed by Oxford University, was to be administered to its first patients in the second week of March, but was moved up to Monday.
The Queensland Government has issued a ‘show cause’ notice to Healthcare Australia for a disastrous mistake last week.
The federal government contractor injected two elderly Queenslanders with four times the recommended dose of the Pfizer vaccine at the Carseldine aged-care centre, in Brisbane’s north last Tuesday.