A mother who had a severe allergic reaction just hours after having an Astra Zeneca jab has welcomed news that her Tynwald petition on vaccine injury has been ruled in order.

Nikola Brindley, 34, worked as a dental nurse and receptionist and says she felt under pressure to have the Covid vaccine.

But just a few hours after having her first dose of Astra Zeneca on July 24, 2021, she suffered a severe systemic allergic anaphylaxis reaction and was rushed to the emergency department at Noble’s Hospital where she collapsed on arrival.

Nikola was transferred to an acute medical ward and stayed in hospital for 56 hours before being allowed home.

She had been physically fit and healthy previously but said she now suffers from multiple issues including abdominal cramps, joint problems, breathlessness, swollen lymph nodes, rib pain, repeated flu like symptoms, overwhelming fatigue and often trips when she walks – conditions which only started since she had her Covid jab.

Nikola, who helps run a vaccine injury support group, said: ‘This situation is much bigger than we first think and ignoring it will have a huge impact. We want our voices to be heard.’

She said she should never have had the vaccine in the first place as she had suffered an anaphylaxis reaction when given intravenous iron while 26 weeks pregnant five years earlier. This should have precluded her from having the Astra Zeneca vaccine.

In any event, by May 2021 the guidance was that under-40s should be offered an alternative to Astra Zeneca after a review into extremely rare cases of blood clotting following a first dose.

Nikola said she has been in and out of hospital for the past 24 months but is yet to receive any help or treatment. She returned home after one hospital visit to find a letter in the post informing her that she had been dismissed.

Following her dismissal from the dental practice, she took her case to the Manx Industrial Relations Services. Having only returned to work there six months earlier, she was awarded compensation of just one month’s salary.

She had requested copies of her medical records and was shocked to read references to her having been given the ‘experimental Covid-19 vaccine’.

For the past two years she has been helping run a support group in the island for those who are struggling with health issues, adverse effects and even deaths of family members which they believe have been caused by the Covid vaccine. It now has some 846 members.

Nikola presented a petition on Tynwald Day, alongside fellow vaccine injury campaigners, calling for a committee to be established to ‘consider and report back to Tynwald on the merits and remit of establishing an independent inquiry/review into the ethics, necessity and safety of Covid-19 vaccines on the Isle of Man, helping those already injured and stopping further Covid-19 vaccines’.

She said she was pleased that the petition has been ruled in order, which means that they can be taken up by MHKs.

Nikola said:’The biggest aim for myself and the group is to get the vital help, support and acknowledgement that this is happening in the island and the need to be treated. This is why we produced the petition with a hope it will be picked up.’

Nikola, who lives in Ramsey, said she had initially turned up at the Chester Street hub for the Moderna jab. ‘I was worried I’d lose my job if I didn’t take anything. I was told I couldn’t have this vaccine due to a few allergies and one anaphylaxis I’d had years ago to IV iron.

‘I was referred to the community side and received a phone call saying I could have Astra Zeneca. I did ask if this was the safest one for me to have as reports were coming in of under 40s being told not to have this. I was told it was the safest one I could have and checks had been taken.’

But Nikola believes the few checks carried out were not sufficient to ensure her safety.

‘I don’t feel I was given informed consent,’she said.

She added: ‘There is a hope with publishing my story that it will lead to a much needed service, help, support and acknowledgement of injuries, adverse events happening on the island and for others to come forward and speak. I hope members of the public will email their MHKs on the petition so that it will be picked up by an MHK and brought forward.’

The vaccine injuries group can be found at https://www.facebook.com/groups/iomcvi/