Moderna and Pfizer vaccines both contain a preservative called polyethylene glycol (PEG) or polysorbate, while Johnson & Johnson's does not. It is a rare allergy.
PORTLAND, Maine — Three companies have created COVID-19 vaccines that are approved for emergency use—Pfizer, Moderna, and now Johnson & Johnson.
Public health leaders, like Dr. Shah and Dr. Fauci, said all three are safe and highly effective. They are urging folks to take whichever vaccine they're offered when it's their turn.
It's a sentiment that 71-year-old Susan Gillmor said she desperately wishes she could follow.
"I heard a national CNN reporter say, 'beggars can't be choosers, you have to take the first one you can,' and that just made me more depressed. It's like, but what if we can't!"
Gillmor said she was devastated to learn she is among a small group of people who cannot take the Pfizer of Moderna vaccines, because of an allergy to polyethylene glycol—known as "PEG" or "P-E-G."
PEG is a polyether compound—rarely found in vaccines, but found in many medicines and cosmetics, including skin creams and laxatives.
According to the CDC, Polysorbate is not an ingredient in either mRNA COVID-19 vaccine but is closely related to PEG, which is in the vaccines. If you're allergic to that, you should not get an mRNA COVID vaccine.
According to Dr. James Jarvis with Northern Light Health, PEG is used in the two vaccines to preserve it.
"It's not part of the vaccine itself," Jarvis said. "It's just the preservative agent in the vaccine."
While PEG allergies are rare, he emphasizes the CDC guidance saying, "People who are allergic to PEG can't receive either the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine."
The good news—the newly approved Johnson & Johnson vaccine does not use PEG.
However, there's no indication people like Susan Gillmor have been flagged-- even by her own doctor-- to receive a dose.
Gillmor messaged her primary care physician at Martin's Point Health on Friday about getting on a waitlist for a Johnson & Johnson vaccine. She was told Martin's Point was not keeping a waitlist for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine at this time.
"I'm afraid that with the few J & J vaccines Maine gets, they'll forget all about me. I feel like I keep falling through the cracks," Susan said.
At the state level-- there is currently no coordinated system that allows folks with specific medical conditions to be prioritized for a specific vaccine.
That's, in part, because the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines are very similar. Their one significant difference in terms of age approval. The Moderna vaccine is approved for those over the age of 18, while the Pfizer vaccine is approved for those over the age of 16.
With this in mind, there is some precedent for people being flagged to receive a specific vaccine.
Dr. Jarvis said, "We do have some people who are between 16 and 18 who live in long-term care facilities for medical reasons, so we have had to preferentially get them Pfizer."
With a new vaccine out there that can be used by people with PEG allergies, Gillmore said she wants to make sure her needs, and those like her, are not overlooked.
"Are they going to forget all about me? I've been hanging in there and doing well, for the most part, this year, but somehow this has put me over the edge."
The CDC has not returned our request for comment on this story.
March 02, 2021 at 06:54AM
https://www.newscentermaine.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/vaccine/are-they-going-to-forget-all-about-me-woman-with-peg-allergy-calls-for-prioritization-for-johnson-johnson-vaccine/97-250a41df-8296-4f09-a42a-64a229883fdf
'Are they going to forget all about me?': Woman with 'PEG' allergy calls for prioritization for Johnson & Johnson vaccine - NewsCenterMaine.com WCSH-WLBZ
https://news.google.com/search?q=forget&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
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