Is there a link between Bell’s palsy and the vaccine?

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A report has been circulating on social media that three out of four volunteers developed Bell’s palsy after “being vaccinated with the experimental Pfizer covid 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, UF Health Jacksonville’s director of infectious diseases, said such misleading messages are common.

“This is a popular thing on social media, especially with the anti-vaccination crowd,” he said.

He reminds the public that not everything posted on social media is true.

“There is no evidence for this with this vaccine yet,” he said. “Certainly, when Pfizer published their clinical trial information, the side effects we reported were and it was nothing serious. I go on to say there are deaths in the process and none of them are linked to the vaccine. “

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

In Pfizer’s trial, all four participants who had gone through Bell’s palsy were given the vaccine. In Moderna’s study, three participants who had experienced Bell’s palsy were given the vaccine, one was given the placebo.

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

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

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

The FDA is now recommending surveillance of Bell’s palsy cases as more people get the vaccine. Since there is nothing scientific to directly link the two, we are going to mark this statement as “False” on the trust index.

As for the above image that comes with the post, we’re also going to mark it as ‘False’.

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