These 3 groups of people are being told not to get coronavirus vaccines

• Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine, which is 95% effective at preventing an infection, arrived in the UK earlier this week.
• The vaccine was found to be safe in clinical trials, but there are three groups of people who should avoid taking it.
• Side effects from the vaccine, while rare, include muscle aches and fever.

With the coronavirus surging across the U.S., it’s clear that relying on people to combat the virus by adhering to coronavirus safety guidelines simply isn’t effective at scale. This was made abundantly clear when millions of Americans traveled home over the Thanksgiving holiday despite pleas from the CDC and Dr. Fauci to hold off on traditional celebrations.

With the pandemic likely to get worse due to colder weather, flu season, and holiday gatherings, we can only hope that coronavirus vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna will finally help us move past this dark chapter in world history. Both vaccines were shown to be 95% effective at preventing a COVID-19 infection during clinical trials, which is beyond remarkable given the timeframe of development.

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While a vaccine is promising, the reality is that it’s only effective if a majority of Americans (around 80%) choose to take it. That said, the UK-based Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) recently listed three groups of people who, as it currently stands, shouldn’t take the vaccine under any circumstance.

The first group includes children under the age of 16. This isn’t all that surprising given that Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine study didn’t include volunteers below the age of 16. Pfizer is planning to change this in the near-future, but for the time being, the safety of the vaccine on children and early teenagers remains unclear.

The JCVI, however, does make one exception:

The Committee advises that only those children at very high risk of exposure and serious outcomes, such as older children with severe neuro-disabilities that require residential care, should be offered vaccination.

The second group of people who should hold off on taking the vaccine includes pregnant women. Like children, it remains unclear how the vaccine could potentially impact a pregnant woman and the unborn child.

Given the lack of evidence, JCVI favours a precautionary approach, and does not currently advise Covid-19 vaccination in pregnancy.

Women should be advised not to come forward for vaccination if they may be pregnant or are planning a pregnancy within three months of the first dose.

The third group of people who should avoid the COVID-19 vaccine includes people who have a history of strong allergic reactions. Earlier this week, two people in the UK with a history of allergic reactions received a dose of the coronavirus vaccine and subsequently developed an anaphylactoid reaction.

CNN adds:

The MHRA issued new advice to health care professionals stating that any person with a significant allergic reaction to a vaccine, medicine or food — such as previous history of anaphylactoid reaction, or those who have been advised to carry an adrenaline autoinjector — should not receive the Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine.

The advice also states that vaccines “should only be carried out in facilities where resuscitation measures are available.”

The administration of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine in the U.S. will likely begin this month. In a best-case scenario — whereby enough doses are manufactured and a critical mass of Americans take it — Dr. Fauci believes that life could return to normal by August or September of next year.

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