CHICAGO (CBS) – After COVID-19 vaccinations were stopped during Friday night’s period when four workers received reactions, Condell Medical Center in Libertyville will begin vaccination on Sunday.
Dr. Robert Citronberg, executive medical director of infectious disease and prevention at Advocate Aurora Health, said four people who received the vaccine since Thursday were suffering from allergic reactions, urging Condell Medical Center to discontinue vaccines for Friday night.
Citronberg said three of those workers suffered a slight reaction to the vaccine, and one of them suffered a severe anaphylactic reaction, prompting them to be hospitalized overnight. The four are now at home and doing well.
Due to privacy laws, Citronberg said he could not say if the victim had a history of allergic reactions to vaccines, but said staff are doing well. now.
As a result of the gathering of opinions at Condell Medical Center, officials initially feared they may have received a bad batch of vaccines, but Citronberg said the same amount of vaccines were used at several indoor sites. and outside the Aurora Health Advocate network, with no other reports of major concern.
“We felt there were no concerns about the integrity of the vaccine,” he said.
Citronberg said when Advocate Aurora Health consulted with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Illinois Department of Public Health, they agreed with the plan to restart vaccines at Condell Medical Center on Sunday.
An internal inspection was also performed to determine the quality of the vaccine batch and protocols for circulating the vaccine.
“With sufficient caution, we have increased our post-vaccination assessment time to 30 minutes per individual across our sites, which is above CDC / ACIP recommendations,” the statement read.
Citronberg said a doctor who was one of four victims of a response to the COVID vaccine told him he feels great, and has nothing to say about ongoing vaccinations.
“He is truly 100% behind the continuing vaccination of our population, and we know how important this is to end the pandemic. He has no hesitation, ”said Citronberg.
Citronberg said he received his vaccine two days ago, and is also “lazy about going back for my second vaccine. ”
“We’re expecting some comments on the vaccine along the way. We are ready for them, and in fairness the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks, even knowing that we will have some response to the vaccine from time to time, ”said Citronberg. “We will have comments from time to time, there is no doubt about it, and I feel we are well prepared to handle those if that happens.”
To date, Advocate Aurora Health has administered 6,000 vaccines to its employees in Illinois and Wisconsin, and the reactions at Condell Medical Center are the only allergic reactions reported.
“We have no plans to slow down our vaccination process. This is how we get out of the pandemic, and I am delighted that we have been able to vaccinate 6,000 members of the team this week. That’s terrible, and it’s just the beginning, ”said Citronberg.
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