pinkomelet/iStockBy ROSA SANCHEZ, EMILY SHAPIRO, and IVAN PEREIRA, ABC News
(NEW YORK) — A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now infected more than 79.8 million people worldwide and killed over 1.7 million of them, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
Here’s how the news is developing today. All times Eastern.
Dec 26, 9:07 am
Boston Medical Center responds to report of doctor’s serious allergic reaction to Moderna vaccine
“The employee received the Moderna vaccine Thursday and as is our standard practice was being observed post vaccination by trained nurses. He felt he was developing an allergic reaction and was allowed to self-administer his personal epi-pen. He was taken to the Emergency Department, evaluated, treated, observed and discharged. He is doing well today,” Boston Medical Center said in a statement to ABC News.
– Aaron Katersky
Dec 26, 8:57 am
7 million people traveled by plane in last 7 days
Despite health official warnings to stay home this holiday season, and while overall air travel is down nearly 60% from this time last year, the Transportation Security Administration’s numbers have jumped, showing more than 7 million people hitting the skies in the past seven days, according to a “Good Morning America” report Saturday.
Over 7.8 million travelers were screened by the TSA since last Friday, Dec. 18 — the busiest stretch of travel since the beginning of the pandemic.
Dec 26, 12:35 am
Doctor has serious allergic reaction to Moderna vaccine for 1st time
A person receiving the Moderna vaccine has had a serious allergic reaction apparently for the first time.
Dr. Hossein Sadrzadeh, a geriatric oncology fellow at Boston Medical Center, had the serious reaction when receiving the vaccine earlier this week.
“The employee received the Moderna vaccine Thursday and as is our standard practice was being observed post vaccination by trained nurses,” Boston Medical Center said in a statement Friday. “He felt he was developing an allergic reaction and was allowed to self-administer his personal epi-pen. He was taken to the Emergency Department, evaluated, treated, observed and discharged. He is doing well today.”
There have been a handful of reports about recipients of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine suffering allergic reactions, but this is the first known via Moderna’s shot.
Sadrzadeh told ABC News that he specifically chose to get the Moderna vaccine — as opposed to Pfizer’s vaccine — because he had a history of allergic reactions.
At the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices hearing last week discussing approval for the vaccine, Moderna scientist Dr. Jacqueline Miller discussed some cases in the trials.
“At the time of our EA submission, we’ve had two anaphylaxis reactions that have been reported as unsolicited and one was in a placebo group occurring 10 days after the first [shot],” Miller told the panel. “And that subject has reported a history of allergy to shellfish.”
Sadrzadeh also had a shellfish allergy.
“They injected the vaccine, and just like less than a minute after injecting the vaccine, I felt that my heart is racing,” he told ABC News late Friday. “I asked the nurses to come and just take my vital signs … and interestingly, for the first time in my life, I saw my heart rate is 154. I felt like tingling, numbness in my tongue and also in my throat. It was like a similar feeling that I had before with my allergic reaction.”
Sadrzadeh said his blood pressure was so low it did not register on the machine and at that point asked if he could inject himself with his EpiPen.
“It was not the first time that I had this experience, but I would say that it was the worst experience after my first experience at age 11,” he added.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s foremost infectious disease expert, said people who are prone to these types of severe allergic reactions might want to get their vaccine at a medical facility that’s equipped to take care of them, in case they experience a severe reaction.
ABC News’ Zohreen Shah and Sean Sanders contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.