Director-general of Queensland Health, Dr John Wakefield, said the four cases had experienced anaphylactic reactions to the vaccine.
He reported one case occurring in Bundaberg, one in Toowoomba and two in Ipswich.
Dr Wakefield equated the reactions to being something like “a bee sting”.
“It is the sort of response that someone has like when they have a bee sting … or if they are allergic to seafood,” Dr Wakefield said during this morning’s COVID-19 briefing.
While all four cases were given treatment immediately and were now “all safe”, Dr Wakefield suggested those with a history of anaphylaxis should “hold off” on getting the vaccine.
“It is fine for people to have the vaccination, unless they have a history of anaphylaxis reaction to products that are in the vaccine,” he said.
“What we have done is essentially said let’s have a look at these cases, let’s see if there is anything else that needs to be done.”
The reactions don’t appear to be exclusive to the AstraZeneca vaccine, with Dr Wakefield also noting at least one additional anaphylaxis reaction from the Pfizer vaccine earlier in the state’s rollout.
“We have had an anaphylaxis (reaction) with Pfizer, and we expect to get more,” he added.
The revelation comes amid Queensland’s fourth week of the vaccination rollout, with more than 3000 AstraZeneca doses already been used across the state.
This content first appear on 9news