First Adverse Reaction Of Pfizer & BioNTech's COVID-19 Vaccine Recorded In Finland

In a major development for the vaccination drives ongoing in various nations across the world, Finland's medical agency has received the first report of an adverse reaction to the COVID-19 vaccine developed by the United States (US) based pharmaceutical major Pfizer and German BioNTech, reports Livemint.

This comes just a week after Europe began its mass immunisation drive on 27 December following the authorisation provided by the European Commission. However, no information has been revealed about the nature of the adverse reaction reported.

The Finnish agency's Chief Physician Maija Kaukonen has said that the agency would make the information about the reaction available on its website once there are at least five such reports. She also added that the reports of allergic or adverse reactions were likely to increase.

Kaukonen refused to share any further details citing patient confidentiality.

Pfizer and BioNTech's vaccine has also applied for an emergency use authorisation in India. It had placed its papers before the authorities in December. Meanwhile, the authorities have accorded the emergency use authorisation to the Covaxin and Covishield vaccines in India.