COVID-19 Vaccine information for Parents/Carers of Children and Adolescents aged over 12yrs with allergies, attending at Children’s Health Ireland (CHI).
- The National Immunisation Advisory Committee(NIAC) have recommended that all those aged 12 to 15yrs should be included in the Covid-19 vaccination program and that they should be offered an mRNA vaccine. The names of the two available mRNA vaccines are Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine (Comirnaty®) and COVID-19 Vaccine Moderna (Spikevax®).
- The mRNA vaccines should not be given to anyone who has had an anaphylactic reaction to any of the vaccine ingredients. This includes an ingredient called polyethylene glycol (PEG). PEG anaphylaxis is very rare. You can find out about the ingredients here: www.hse.ie/covid19VaccinePIL.
- A very small number of young people who have had anaphylactic reactions to MRI dyes should not receive the COVID-19 Vaccine Moderna (Spikevax®) but can be given the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine Comirnaty®.
- Vaccine related allergic reactions including life threatening reactions (anaphylaxis) are extremely rare. A very small number of cases of anaphylaxis have occurred since the COVID-19 vaccine rollout began. Therefore, as for all vaccines, Covid-19 vaccines should always be given with the appropriate medical treatment available.
- Anyone with a history of anaphylaxis will be observed for an extra 15 minutes.
Young people in eligible age groups, with the following allergic conditions, can safely receive an mRNA Covid-19 vaccine.
| 1 | Food Allergy: immediate or delayed |
| 2 | Ibuprofen (Nurofen) and/or Paracetemol Allergy |
| 3 | Antibiotic Allergy |
| 4 | Previous reactions to other immunisations such as 6:1, MMR or HPV vaccines |
| 5 | Previous reactions to X-ray dyes (The COVID-19 Vaccines Moderna should be avoided if there has been an anaphylactic reaction to MRI dyes). |
| 6 | Asthma |
| 7 | Allergic Rhinitis (Hay fever) including those on immunotherapy (Acarizax®, Grazax®, Oralair® etc) |
| 8 | Bee and Wasp allergy including those receiving immunotherapy (injections) |
| 9 | Non-allergic (chronic) urticaria including those receiving Xolair injections |
Please note that the CHI Allergy Depts are only accepting inquiries regarding COVID-19 Vaccines from GPs.
Message for Health Care Professionals: For answers to COVID-19 Vaccine related Allergy questions please click here to read the NIAC/RCPI/IAAI document.
Click here for further information on NIAC guidelines.
