Coronavirus Vaccine is Safe for People Previously Infected with Covid-19, Company Official Says | Virus World | Scoop.it
From edition.cnn.com - December 3, 2020 10:30 AM

The coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech is safe for people who have already had Covid-19, according to BioNTech’s chief medical officer, Dr. Özlem Türeci.   "We have included in our trial, people who were and who were not infected with SARS-CoV2 before, and we have not seen any differences in the safety profile,” Türeci told reporters during a briefing Wednesday shortly after the UK government announced it had granted authorization for use of the vaccine. People who had Covid-19 likely have some immunity to the coronavirus, but it’s not clear how long that protection lasts. Pfizer announced last month that its vaccine was about 95% effective, when measured seven days after the second dose among people who have had Covid-19 and those who haven't. 

 
According to US Food and Drug Administration guidance to vaccine makers, "vaccine safety and COVID-19 outcomes in individuals with prior SARS-CoV-2 infection, who might have been asymptomatic, are important to examine because screening for prior infection is unlikely to occur prior to administration of COVID-19 vaccines under [emergency use authorization]." When submitting data to the FDA, the agency says companies should break down the safety and efficacy data by "prior infection status at study entry." Pfizer and BioNTech applied for an FDA emergency use authorization on November 20. An FDA advisory committee will meet December 10 to discuss the vaccine, and authorization could come shortly after.