Alaska Health Care Worker Hospitalized After Receiving COVID-19 Vaccine; State to Consider ‘Historical Injustice’ in Setting Vaccine Distribution Order

By NY Times. A health care worker in Alaska had a serious allergic reaction after getting Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine on Tuesday, symptoms that emerged within minutes and required an overnight hospital stay.

The middle-aged worker had no history of allergies, but had an anaphylactic reaction that began 10 minutes after receiving the vaccine at Bartlett Regional Hospital in Juneau, Alaska, a hospital official said. She experienced a rash over her face and torso, shortness of breath and an elevated heart rate.

Dr. Lindy Jones, the hospital’s emergency department medical director, said the worker was first given a shot of epinephrine, a standard treatment for severe allergic reactions. Her symptoms subsided but then re-emerged, and she was treated with steroids and an epinephrine drip. (Read more from “Alaska Health Care Worker Hospitalized After Receiving COVID-19 Vaccine” HERE)

______________________________________________

State to Consider ‘Historical Injustice’ in Setting Vaccine Distribution Order

By Washington Examiner. California may include “historical injustice” as a factor in determining the distribution of coronavirus vaccines, a sign of social justice considerations entering the public health effort.

The idea was first introduced to California’s Community Vaccine Advisory Committee on Nov. 25 by Virginia Hedrick, according to NPR.

Hedrick is executive director of the California Consortium for Urban Indian Health. A member of the Yurok Tribe, she pointed out that Native Americans are 4 times more likely to be hospitalized for COVID-19 and twice as likely to die from it than white people.

She said it is important to consider that Native Americans suffered high rates of illness and death from diseases such as measles and smallpox when the first European settlers arrived here. (Read more from “State to Consider ‘Historical Injustice’ in Setting Vaccine Distribution Order” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE