AstraZeneca:
"The Polysorbate containing AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine is tolerated by polyethylene glycol (PEG) allergic patients":
Quote:
Abstract
Background: Polyethylene glycol (PEG) is the excipient found in the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. We previously demonstrated PEG allergy was a cause of severe anaphylaxis to the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. PEG is widely used in many household products, cosmetics and medicines. However PEG allergy is rare, there have been few confirmed cases of PEG allergy. The excipient of potential concern in the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine is polysorbate 80 (PS80). Cross-reactivity between PEG and polysorbate has been suggested, based on their composition and skin-test data. The aim of this study was to determine whether PEG-allergic patients could be vaccinated with the PS80 containing AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.
Method: Eight patients with PEG allergy were identified by the allergy clinic at Cambridge University Hospital. Patients underwent skin prick testing to PS80 (20%) and to the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine prior to vaccination.
Results: All eight patients allergic to PEG tolerated the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, even in 2 patients where the PS80 skin prick test was positive and 1 with a positive skin prick test to the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.
Conclusion: Patients allergic to PEG, previously denied COVID vaccination, may now be safely vaccinated with the PS80 containing AstraZeneca vaccine and need only avoid the PEG-containing mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. This opens up the possibility that these patients will also tolerate other vaccines containing PS80 such as the Janssen/Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccine. Clinical cross-reactivity between PEG and PS80 did not occur in this vaccine setting.
Keywords: COVID-19; COVID-19 vaccines; PEG allergy; drug allergy; polysorbate 80.
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Sellaturay P, Gurugama P, Harper V, Dymond T, Ewan P, Nasser S. The Polysorbate containing AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine is tolerated by polyethylene glycol (PEG) allergic patients. Clin Exp Allergy. 2021 Nov 25. doi: 10.1111/cea.14064. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 34822190.
If you're in a country that allows for this, great. If you're in the U.S., you'll need to travel abroad (which is highly unlikely, due to international requirements for both the initial vaccine(s) and the booster) to get the AZ vaccine.
NOTE:
AZ vaccines and boosters wane at 3 months; every 6 months is not enough. This is what makes this drug more expensive, and probably one of many reasons why the U.S. decided not to get it.
Unfortunately,
the AZ booster may NOT work against omicron; for those with allergic reactions to mRNA vaccines, they will need to mask, social distance, isolate, only go out for essentials, keep airflow purified, and clean surfaces in order to remain as safe as possible. There are no allergy-friendly vaccines to protect against omicron at this time, though getting a booster will help with the other variants and severe disease. Unfortunately, those with allergies are also high-risk for severe Covid-19 and death, so there aren't many studies on whether alternative vaccines will help protect against omicron for the immunocompromised and those with allergies to mRNA vaccine ingredients.
And,
there's still some debate on whether omicron is less severe, more severe, or about the same as delta; for now, the scientists are saying that omicron might be the SAME SEVERITY AS DELTA until more data are gathered and more statistical tests are analyzed.
Quote:
...But an important preprint was released yesterday describing Omicron hospitalizations in South Africa. There was a lot in this paper, but, to me, the following was the biggest finding: Once someone got to the hospital, the odds of disease becoming severe was the same as Delta. So if the immune system was breached, Omicron did the same damage as Delta. This is consistent with another robust analysis of hospitalizations from the UK that found Omicron is not less severe than Delta.
On the other hand, lab data is showing that there are certainly physiological differences between Omicron and Delta disease processes (go here for more great details). It will be weeks or months until data crystallizes and we have a clear picture of Omicron severity. What all this means for hospitalizations and deaths in places like the United States remains unknown.
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Overall, when looking at the MIXED FINDINGS across the globe, which has more integrity than politically-laden studies in individual countries and their research institutions, we will find the need to be cautious and diligent about going back to double-masking (N95 or N99 if you can), sheltering-in-place if you are high-risk or live with high-risk persons, only traveling for essentials, abiding by mandates and lockdowns, keeping airflow purified with hepa filtration and fresh air, washing hands for at least 40 seconds, keeping surfaces clean and disinfected, social distancing at least 6 feet both indoors and outdoors, avoiding indoors with unvaccinated or public areas, avoiding crowds, and getting vaccinated/boosted as recommended by your specific region's healthcare departments and/or your doctor.
The problem about spreading this virus occurs not only when your pandemic-fatigued defenses are down, but also when disinformation spreads, misinformation spreads, and/or people downplaying the severity of novel mutations. It's better to err on the side of caution than to deal with the tragic costs of medical traumas, grief/loss traumas, increased disease and disability, overwhelmed hospitals (which affects more than Covid patients), and a prolonged pandemic.