WEBVTT - What Allergic Vaccine Reactions Mean For You

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Prognosis. I'm Laura Carlson. It's day three hundred

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<v Speaker 1>and three since coronavirus was declared a global pandemic. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>main story. Some people have gotten severe allergic reactions after

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<v Speaker 1>being vaccinated for COVID nineteen. While the number is very small,

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<v Speaker 1>it's higher than it is for the flu shot. What

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<v Speaker 1>does that mean for you? But first, here's what happened

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<v Speaker 1>in virus News today. In Israel, one of the country's

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<v Speaker 1>with the most effective vaccine programs, the shots may already

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<v Speaker 1>be working. The country has inoculated about of its population,

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<v Speaker 1>and it is starting to see signs that the swift

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<v Speaker 1>campaign is slowing the virus. A study from the Sheba

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<v Speaker 1>Medical Center of around five hundred healthcare workers who got

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<v Speaker 1>the Fighter shot showed more than fifty produced antibodies after

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<v Speaker 1>the first week. The findings are preliminary, but they're encouraging.

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<v Speaker 1>In New York City, residents looking to get vaccines have

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<v Speaker 1>to navigate a bewildering system that's hindering plans to speed

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<v Speaker 1>up inoculations. According to a tweet from Comptroller Scott Stringer,

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<v Speaker 1>who is also a mayoral candidate, to ramp up its

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<v Speaker 1>slow rollout. The city opened mass vaccination sites on Sunday

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<v Speaker 1>in Brooklyn, and the Bronx extended shots on Monday to

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<v Speaker 1>people seventy five and over and encouraged everyone eligible to

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<v Speaker 1>schedule an appointment, but the sign up process is fractured

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<v Speaker 1>and confusing. Meanwhile, the city's mayor, build A. Blasio reaffirmed

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<v Speaker 1>his goal of dolling out one million COVID nineteen doses

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<v Speaker 1>by the end of January. Finally, Faser and bio Ntech

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<v Speaker 1>raised their COVID nineteen vaccine production target for this year

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<v Speaker 1>to two billion shots. The partners have already agreed to

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<v Speaker 1>deliver more than half that capacity. Bio Ntech said in

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<v Speaker 1>a presentation on Monday, a new production site in Marburg,

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<v Speaker 1>Germany will be able to make as many as seven

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<v Speaker 1>hundred and fifty million doses per year. And now for

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<v Speaker 1>today's main story. As vaccinations roll out across the country,

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<v Speaker 1>a few people have incurred serious allergic reactions, despite that

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<v Speaker 1>the CDC is sticking with its recommendation that most people

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<v Speaker 1>should still get the shots. I spoke with healthcare reporter

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<v Speaker 1>and a court about why. Almost as soon as people

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<v Speaker 1>began to receive shots of COVID nineteen vaccines. We heard

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<v Speaker 1>reports of allergic reactions and I was just hoping you

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<v Speaker 1>might tell us a little bit about the kinds of

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<v Speaker 1>reactions people were experiencing with regard to the COVID nineteen vaccine. Right,

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<v Speaker 1>So we know that there are in general with vaccines

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<v Speaker 1>reactions people can have to getting shots, and and many

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<v Speaker 1>of them are are mild and they go away. You know,

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<v Speaker 1>I think we've all had that sort of injection site

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<v Speaker 1>paying your arm feels a little sore, it goes away. Um.

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<v Speaker 1>You can have other things like fever, headache again, things

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<v Speaker 1>that are very short lived, Um, typically kind of disappear.

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<v Speaker 1>So what we're talking about here is a little bit different.

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<v Speaker 1>The main kind of safety concern is these year allergic

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<v Speaker 1>reactions known as anaphylaxis, which you know, can be life threatening.

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<v Speaker 1>Those it's rare that people die of it. And specifically,

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<v Speaker 1>we're getting a clearer picture now from the US Centers

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<v Speaker 1>for Disease Control and Prevention of how frequently this occurs,

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<v Speaker 1>and the answer is very infrequently. It's the CDC says

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<v Speaker 1>it's had about twenty nine confirmed cases of anaphylaxis to

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<v Speaker 1>these COVID nineteen shots so far. These are both to

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<v Speaker 1>the Fiser shot as well as the Maderna shot. But

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<v Speaker 1>the rate at which this is happening, you know, twenty

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<v Speaker 1>nine of the millions of people who have been vaccinated

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<v Speaker 1>is is still quite low. So it's the rate is

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<v Speaker 1>about one in one thousand people. It's important to note

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<v Speaker 1>like these are severe reactions. People went to the hospital,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, they were some of them were treating the

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<v Speaker 1>emergency room. Some were actually hospitalized or taken to the

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<v Speaker 1>i c U. But ultimately we haven't had any death

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<v Speaker 1>from these reactions, the CDC is saying, So that's positive news.

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<v Speaker 1>The big takeaway here is that although there are risks

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<v Speaker 1>to getting COVID shots, like to any medical product, to

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<v Speaker 1>any drug, to any vaccine, ultimately the CDC. CDC is

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<v Speaker 1>still urging most people to get the shots. And the

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<v Speaker 1>two exceptions they've outlined are people who know that they

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<v Speaker 1>are allergic to vaccine ingredients and people who had a

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<v Speaker 1>reaction to that first dose of the covid vaccine should

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<v Speaker 1>not get the second dose. And as far as you know,

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<v Speaker 1>were we now have a variety of different vaccine shots.

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<v Speaker 1>We have as you mentioned Fiser, we have moderna UM.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, there's the Astra Zeneca and the University of

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<v Speaker 1>Oxford vaccine as well. And you know, when we're talking

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<v Speaker 1>about potential allergic reactions, is there any difference between these

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<v Speaker 1>various shots as far as potential allergies to ingredients or

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<v Speaker 1>something along those lines that would depend on what shot

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<v Speaker 1>someone is getting. That is a really good question and

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<v Speaker 1>I think we would all love to know the answer

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<v Speaker 1>to that. Something that's coming up now in terms of

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<v Speaker 1>the allergic reactions to these early COVID nineteen shots is

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<v Speaker 1>really health officials trying to understand more about why this

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<v Speaker 1>is happening and and specifically the rate we're seeing, which is,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, somewhat higher than the rate of anaphylaxis scene

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<v Speaker 1>with flu vaccines. They're trying to make sense of why

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<v Speaker 1>that could be. Isn't something specific to this m R

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<v Speaker 1>and a technology which both the MADERNA and fisor vaccines

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<v Speaker 1>um use, or could it just be something else else

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<v Speaker 1>going on? Another factor here is that this is a

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<v Speaker 1>vaccine rollout that's being really closely monitored right then with

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<v Speaker 1>good reason um. And that means that it's possible we're

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<v Speaker 1>and hopeful that we're picking up on more of these

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<v Speaker 1>cases than we normally do because there's so much scrutinay

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<v Speaker 1>being paid to that safety profile here. So it's something

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<v Speaker 1>where we a you know, be learning more as these

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<v Speaker 1>shots are rolled out and as more become available. As

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<v Speaker 1>you said, there have been fairly few reports of severe

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<v Speaker 1>allergic reactions to the say either Fiser or modern as vaccines,

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<v Speaker 1>But have those reports of reactions altered any plans for

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<v Speaker 1>distribution or the rollout in any way? What we are

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<v Speaker 1>hearing from the CDC is that it hasn't significantly changed

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<v Speaker 1>plans for distribution. It hasn't even really significantly changed their

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<v Speaker 1>recommendations in terms of who should get the vaccine. What

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<v Speaker 1>they are saying again is, you know, providers need to

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<v Speaker 1>be prepared to treat these kinds of reactions. So something

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<v Speaker 1>they've been saying this whole time is as people get

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<v Speaker 1>these shots, they should be monitored I think for up

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<v Speaker 1>to thirty minutes after receiving the shots, because that's when

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<v Speaker 1>it's most likely that these reactions will emerge. And then

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<v Speaker 1>that providers should be familiar with and have on hand

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<v Speaker 1>these treatments like the EpiPen, these allergic reaction treatments so

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<v Speaker 1>that they can do something if someone has one of

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<v Speaker 1>these severe reactions, so they're prepared to treat patients. You know,

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<v Speaker 1>you mentioned the flu and the flu shot. I mean,

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<v Speaker 1>thus far do the numbers of people who have experienced

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<v Speaker 1>an allergic reaction to either Fiser or Maderna's vaccine. How

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<v Speaker 1>does that compare to the people who experienced, say, an

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<v Speaker 1>allergic reaction to the annual flu shot. So so the

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<v Speaker 1>latest information we have about this comes by way of

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<v Speaker 1>the CDC, which put out a report um that was

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<v Speaker 1>focused specifically on the Fiser vaccine because the Fiser vaccine

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<v Speaker 1>was the first to get authorized in the US and

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<v Speaker 1>it had the most uptake when the CDC was compiling

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<v Speaker 1>this information, so recipients of the Fiser vaccine there was

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<v Speaker 1>a rate of eleven point one per million doses administered,

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<v Speaker 1>so eleven point one cases of anaphyl access per million

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<v Speaker 1>doses administered. And then when you talk about the flu vaccine,

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<v Speaker 1>the rates actually lower. Based on the studies we have,

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<v Speaker 1>it's about one point three times per million doses of

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<v Speaker 1>flu vaccine. So again eleven point one compared to one

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<v Speaker 1>point three times per million doses. The rate appears to

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<v Speaker 1>be higher with these COVID nineteen vaccines, but it's important

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<v Speaker 1>to note and something the CDC said during a briefing

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<v Speaker 1>the other day was, we have seen in some small

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<v Speaker 1>studies that other vaccines have higher rates of anaphylaxis. So

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<v Speaker 1>twelve to twenty five times per million doses, it's within

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<v Speaker 1>the range of what's expected here. Again the CDC saying

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<v Speaker 1>it's still quite rare that this is going to happen

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<v Speaker 1>with this vaccine at this point, based on what we

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<v Speaker 1>the information we have, and that it's still important to

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<v Speaker 1>get these vaccines because you have to stack it up

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<v Speaker 1>against the risk of getting a severe case of COVID nineteen,

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<v Speaker 1>which has obviously very significant consequences for patients. So in

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<v Speaker 1>terms of populations who would be at risk for a

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<v Speaker 1>severe allergic reaction, who would fall into that category. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>so this is the key part of this, right um,

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<v Speaker 1>And we don't have a perfect information, but what we

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<v Speaker 1>did hear from the CDC recently was of these twenty

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<v Speaker 1>one cases of severe allergic reactions with the Fiser shot,

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<v Speaker 1>seventeen had a documented history of allergies and seven had

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<v Speaker 1>a history of anaphylaxis. And by the way, allergies is

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<v Speaker 1>that's pretty wide ranging, right, that's allergies to drugs, right,

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<v Speaker 1>that's allergic reactions to food, to insects things. So, um,

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<v Speaker 1>this is a lot a lot of people who who

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<v Speaker 1>might be kind of starting to think about this and

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<v Speaker 1>wonder what it means for them getting the shots. And

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<v Speaker 1>what the CDC is saying is talk this over with

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<v Speaker 1>your physician and make this decision. It's not something that

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<v Speaker 1>I think every person is educated about as they experienced

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<v Speaker 1>medical care, as they go to the doctor, as they

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<v Speaker 1>venture out in the world. But it's something that's really

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<v Speaker 1>important to know because you know, there's always a risk

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<v Speaker 1>you're taking on and that doesn't mean you shouldn't get

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<v Speaker 1>care or you shouldn't get a shot, for instance, but

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<v Speaker 1>it is something that it's helpful to be educated about

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<v Speaker 1>so you're properly informed us you go into any situation.

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<v Speaker 1>That was Emma Court. And that's it for our show today.

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<v Speaker 1>For coverage of the outbreak from one and twenty bureaus

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<v Speaker 1>around the world, visit Bloomberg dot com slash coronavirus and

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<v Speaker 1>if you like the show, please leave us a review

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<v Speaker 1>and a rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It's the

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<v Speaker 1>best way to help more listeners find our global reporting

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<v Speaker 1>The Prognosis Daily edition is produced by Tophra Foreheads, Magnus

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<v Speaker 1>Hendrickson and me Laura Carlson. Today's main story was reported

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<v Speaker 1>by Emma Court, original music by Leo Sidrin. Our editors

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<v Speaker 1>are Rick Shine and Francesco Levi. Francesco Levi is blue

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<v Speaker 1>Berg's head of podcasts. Thanks for listening, h