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Using COVID-19 vaccines in individuals with acute severe febrile illness

Christine Randall, Assistant Director, Lead pharmacist for Dental Medicines Information and Pharmacovigilance, North West Medicines Information CentrePublished
Topics: All vaccines: Answers to QuestionsCautions and contraindicationsInfection and infectious diseases

Advice on using COVID-19 vaccines in individuals with acute severe febrile illness

Advice

For current acute severe febrile illness the information from both manufacturers,  Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca, state that vaccination should be postponed.

Public Health England’s Immunisation Against Infectious Disease (the Green Book) states that minor illnesses without fever or systemic upset are not valid reasons to postpone immunisation. Individuals who are acutely unwell can have their immunisation postponed until they have fully recovered.  This is to avoid confusing the differential diagnosis of any acute illness (including COVID-19) by wrongly attributing any signs or symptoms to the adverse effects of the vaccine.