Covid Vaccine Allergy Testing

Covid Vaccine Allergy Testing

Allergy to COVID vaccine, though rare, is a major safety concern for people prone to allergies. Many are avoiding or plan to avoid the vaccine for fear of possible allergic reaction to vaccine. For a small number of people who are allergic to one of the vaccine components found in many other medications, the risk is real, but for a majority the risk is minimal. If you have history of Anaphylaxis, severe drug, insect or food allergy, or Mast Cell Disease, or are concerned about being allergic to the vaccine, we will be happy to evaluate your risk and advise you if you need additional testing and/or precautions to get vaccinated.

Allergic reaction to vaccines approved, or soon to be approved in the US: Pfizer, Moderna and Astra-Zeneca, have been studied and are caused by one or the other of inert components named PEG2000 and Polysorbate80. 

Testing for COVID vaccine allergy by graded skin tests for these components has been validated in published studies sponsored by multiple major medical centers including those at Vanderbilt and Harvard Universities.

COVID Vaccine Allergy Testing is now available at Asthma & Allergy Center.

To make an appointment to get tested at any of our five offices in WV (Charleston, Beckley, Parkersburg, Logan, Ripley), you can call us or send us a message thru the "Contact Us" Button on this page, and we will call you back to set one up for you. 

We expect most health insurance policies to cover the tests under the existing routine coverage for Drug Allergy Testing. If your insurance needs PCP referral to see a specialist, you can have them call us or we will be happy to call them and get a referral.

You can read a detailed review of COVID Vaccine Allergy in a CDC publication here.

Vaccine Anaphylaxis - Real World Data

In a research letter published in JAMA Online First on March 8, 2021, the group from Mass General Brigham reported on their prospective study of 52,805 employees who received their first dose of an mRNA vaccine. Acute allergic reactions were reported by 1,365 employees (2.1%), and anaphylaxis was confirmed in 16 employees (0.025%). 94% of these were female, 10 had a prior allergy history and five had an anaphylaxis history. One patient was admitted to the ICU, all recovered. The incidence rate of anaphylaxis in this study was 2.47/10,000 vaccinations, which is higher than that reported via passive reporting measures (VAERS, Vsafe) but still rare.