Is there a link between paralysis and the Bell vaccine?

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A message has been circulating on social media saying that three out of four volunteers developed Bell’s palsy after “getting vaccinated with the covid Pfizer experimental vaccine”.

According to Mayo Clinic, the exact cause of the disease – also known as peripheral facial nerve palsy – is unknown and can occur at any age. The condition causes temporary weakness or paralysis of the facial muscles.

Chad Neilsen, director of infectious diseases at UF Health Jacksonville, said misleading posts like this are common.

“This is a popular thing on social media, particularly among people against vaccination,” he said.

It is reminding the public that not everything that is posted on social media is true.

“There is still no evidence of this with this vaccine,” he said. “Certainly, when Pfizer published the clinical trial information, it reported the adverse effects that were not serious. I will continue to say that there are deaths in the trial and that none of them are related to the vaccine. “

To be clear, four participants in the Pfizer vaccine trial and four participants in the Moderna trial experienced Bell’s palsy.

In the Pfizer trial, the four participants who experienced Bell’s palsy received the vaccine. At the Moderna trial, three participants who experienced Bell’s palsy received the vaccine, one obtained the placebo.

Dr. Elizabeth Ransom, with Baptist Health, says this should not deter anyone from the vaccine.

“Just like there were some cases of appendicitis in both the vaccine arm and the placebo,” he said. “These things will happen naturally.”

The FDA acknowledged these cases of Bell’s palsy before approving Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine, but said there is no evidence to link them. It is important to note that the reaction did not occur immediately after the administration of the vaccine, but in all cases weeks later.

The FDA now recommends monitoring for Bell’s palsy cases as more people receive the vaccine. Since there is nothing scientific that directly links the two, we will mark this statement as “Not true” in the trust index.

As for the previous image that accompanies the post, we will also mark it as “Not true”.

This photo appears in an article on Bell’s palsy on November 20, 2019, long before the first documented cases of COVID-19 in the United States.