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  • 2020-12-10 (xsd:date)
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  • Did 4 COVID-19 Vaccine Trial Patients Develop Bell's Palsy? (en)
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  • In December 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released additional data concerning a COVID-19 vaccine from the pharmaceutical company Pfizer ahead of a meeting with an independent panel of scientists and public health officials to discuss the new drug's approval. Although the report showed that the vaccine was largely effective, some social media users singled out one seemingly scary statistic: Four of the patients who received the vaccine developed Bell's palsy, a type of temporary facial paralysis. The information contained in the above-displayed tweet is largely accurate, although it should be noted the individuals pictured at the bottom of this message are not the same individuals who were involved in the COVID-19 vaccine trial. This image dates back to at least 2019 and was apparently included to illustrate the sort of facial paralysis that occurs with Bell's palsy. More importantly, this tweet (and dozens more like it) may give readers the impression that this vaccine caused Bell's palsy. As of this writing, there's no evidence to support that assertion. The FDA noted in its report that four people (out of about 22,000) in the vaccine group developed Bell's palsy, while no cases were reported in the similarly sized trial group. However, this low incident rate is consistent with the expected background rate of Bell's palsy in the general population. The FDA wrote: Pfizer Canada President Cole Pinnow reiterated this point to the CBC: https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1829670467550/ (en)
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