“After the vaccination, she gave a live interview to a TV channel and called on the medical staff to get vaccinated. Unfortunately, a reaction developed within 30 minutes.”
Today, at 12:15pm, a nurse was vaccinated against COVID-19 with the AstraZeneca vaccine in Akhaltsikhe. The 27-year-old woman had previously had annual vaccinations against the flu and had never reported any allergic reactions. After the AstraZeneca vaccination was received, she gave a live interview to a TV channel, calling on medical staff to get vaccinated, the Director of the National Center for Disease Control and Public Health Amiran Gamkrelidze said.
“Unfortunately, a reaction developed within 30 minutes. We do not yet know if it was an allergic reaction or some other type of reaction. Preliminary conversations with doctors lead us to think it was likely an anaphylactic reaction,” Gamkrelidze said.
Gamkrelidze explained that the nurse’s condition worsened quickly, and it was necessary to put her on artificial respiration. Paramedics are taking the patient to Tbilisi. “We will not be able to talk about cause-and-effect until the end of the investigation,” Gamkrelidze said.
A joint session of the Immunization Scientific Committee and the National Committee of Immunization Safety Experts will be held at the Ministry of Health 7pm tonight to discuss the Akhaltsikhe case.
The meeting will also discuss if AstraZeneca vaccination should be temporarily suspended in Georgia.
By Ana Giorgadze
