미국서도 화이자 백신 접종 뒤 알레르기 반응... 전문가는 그래도 안전하다고 말해
This just coming in.
French President Emmanuel Macron has tested positive for Covid-19. The Elysee Palace released a statement saying he was tested at the onset of the first symptoms, but did not identify what the symtoms were.
It said he would isolate himself for seven days, but will continue to work and take care of his activities at a distance.
We'll have more details in our later newscast.
Now, as governments around the world gradually start granting emergency use authorization of COVID-19 vaccines, developers like Pfizer rush to meet the overwhelming demand.
But concerns about allergic reactions have also emerged... in the United Kingdom and now the United States.
Han Seong-woo spoke with the nation's leading vaccine experts.
An Alaskan healthcare worker suffered an allergic reaction on Tuesday shortly after receiving Pfizer and BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine.
She has since recovered but reportedly had no past history of medication-related allergies... raising concerns over the shot's safety.
Health experts, though, are calming the public, saying the vaccine is still safe to take.
"So I think that the vaccines are safe and if I was offered the Moderna vaccine or the Pfizer vaccine when it's my turn, I would take them... I think that the current plan, which is to keep people in the clinic for fifteen minutes after vaccination, is actually going to catch and record most of the side effects that we're going to see."
What's more worrisome to the head of the International Vaccine Institute is that the world has yet to see what side effects could occur after recipients start needing "boosters", or more than two injections.
"One of the concerns about all the COVID-19 vaccines is that the current dosing regimen may not yield what we call durable protection, that is protection that lasts for a year, two years, three years... The problem is that if each dose is worse in terms of side effects what would the third dose be like and at this point we don't know."
On Wednesday, a U.S. official said thousands of doses of Pfizer's vaccine were sent back after they were found stored at minus 92 degrees Celsius, well below the optimum storage temperature of minus seventy degrees Celsius.
Dr. Kim says the detection of such errors is another sign that the system in place to safely administer mass vaccination is working.
According to the New York Times, the Trump administration is currently negotiating with Pfizer to obtain an additional 100 million doses by the middle of next year.
Meanwhile, South Korea is in the process of finalizing deals for the Pfizer, Janssen and Moderna vaccines.
Han Seong-woo, Arirang News.