Our Skin and the COVID Vaccine
An amazing group of dermatologists compiled over 400 cases of Cutaneous Reactions Reported after Moderna and Pfizer Covid-19 Vaccination, and I must say I've seen nearly all in clinic, and all have done great.
I've personally had the most common cutaneous finding of a delayed large local injection site reaction of redness and itching on my deltoid where I was injected. This could happen usually a week after the 1st dose or even more quickly after the 2nd. Patients do well with this and at the most may need a topical steroid, oral antihistamine, an over the counter pain reliever, or ice. In the registry, there was no severe side effects found after the second dose in patients who experienced this after the first dose. These reactions resolved typically within 4 days.
There are also reports of skin findings that may be associated with COVID itself like pernio/chilblains like changes to toes, erythromelalgia, and pityriasis-rosea like reactions (likely representing our mounting immune response rather than direct effects of virus).
Rarely temporary facial swelling post vaccine was found associated with prior use of injectable filler.
I've had the Moderna, my mom has had Johnson and Johnson and today Zac just got the 1st Pfizer...so far so good!
McMahon DE, Amerson E, Rosenbach M, LipoffJB, Moustafa D, Tyagi A, Desai SR, French LE, Lim HW, Thiers BH, Hruza GJ, Blumenthal K, Fox LP, Freeman EE.
⠀
Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology (2021)