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Nurse suffers severe reaction to vaccine, authorities hunt for eight possible cases

A Queensland nurse with a history of severe allegeric reaction has recovered from an adverse reaction to the COVID-19 vaccine as authorities race to track down eight people who may be infected with the virus.

Mar 05, 2021, updated Mar 05, 2021
The first COVID-19 vaccine given in Queensland was to a nurse at the Gold Coast University Hospital. Photo: ABC

The first COVID-19 vaccine given in Queensland was to a nurse at the Gold Coast University Hospital. Photo: ABC

The nurse had an anaphylactic reaction after being given the Pfizer jab at Gold Coast University Hospital on Thursday afternoon.

The hospital already knew the nurse had a history of anaphylaxis, which had been identified as a possible side effect of vaccination, and was under observation at the time.

A Gold Coast Health spokesperson told AAP on Friday the nurse was treated immediately and has since recovered.

“The response was prompt and effective and the patient received the appropriate treatment and has since recovered.”

The spokesperson said people who had experienced an allergic reaction to a previous dose of the vaccine, or any ingredient of it, are warned not to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

Queensland Health is also racing to track down eight people who may have been infected with COVID-19 while staying at a quarantine hotel.

The eight people stayed on level eight of Brisbane’s Mercure Hotel between February 17-21 when two people on that level tested positive for the Russian strain of the virus.

The pair arrived on a Qatar Airways flight from Doha on February 17 and another four other passengers have also tested positive.

Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young says a “superspreader” may have passed the virus on to others in the hotel.

“It could have happened, (it’s) unlikely, but it could have happened in the hotel, because this person was in the room next to the person who was positive,” she said on Thursday.

Young said authorities were tracing those eight people and until they found they had been asked to self-isolate for 14-days and get tested.

She said some of those people could be interstate residents and the National Incident Room has been alerted.

“I just need to find out where the eight people have gone,” Dr Young said.

“It’s unlikely that it’s a risk, but it is a risk, no matter how small, so I just want to work that through.”

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