A hospital worker has been admitted to intensive care as a result of an allergic reaction from Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine.
The reaction kicked in just 10 minutes after getting the jab.
According to Dr Lindy Jones, an attending physician at Bartlett Memorial Hospital, the woman was held in the vaccine monitoring area following the shot and took an antihistamine.
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After reporting a shortness of breath, she was then taken to the emergency room and recorded an elevated heart rate and developed a rash on her face and torso.
"I was concerned about an anaphylactic reaction so gave her the standard treatment of a dose of intramuscular epinephrine and she responded immediately," Jones told a news briefing.
Pfizer said in a statement to The Independent: "We don't yet have all the details of the report from Alaska about a potential serious allergic reaction but are actively working with local health authorities to assess. We will closely monitor all reports suggestive of serious allergic reactions following vaccination and update labelling language if needed."
The company added the vaccine came with a 'clear warning' that 'appropriate medical treatment and supervision should always be readily available in case of a rare anaphylactic event following the administration of the vaccine'.
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Speaking to the FDA's Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, they added that said they saw no serious allergic reactions among volunteers who received the vaccine in the company's clinical trials.
"Amongst the 44,000 subjects, we saw no serious allergic reactions to the vaccine," Dr William Gruber, senior vice president of vaccine clinical research and development at Pfizer, said.
"Within the clinical trial we've actually not seen evidence to suggest a signal related to an allergic reaction to the vaccine," he added.
The worker had no previous history of allergies to vaccines and has since almost recovered after a night in the intensive care unit.
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"She was still enthusiastic that she got the vaccine and the benefits it would give her in the future," Jones said.
Health officials have said they are prepared to deal with potential allergic reactions and are able to treat anyone who may suffer from one following the jab.
Alaska's Chief Medical Officer Dr Anne Zink said: "We expected that a side effect like this could occur after reports of anaphylaxis were made in England after people there received the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine.
"All sites that are approved to provide vaccinations in Alaska must have medications on hand to deal with an allergic reaction and that was the case in Juneau."
Featured Image Credit: PA