Dear Dr Poland, Thank you for this very educational podcast. It was so helpful! I received my first dose of the Pfizer vaccine about 6 weeks ago at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville. I have a question about some symptoms that developed after my first dose - and which is giving me some concern about receiving the second dose .
Within a few hours of receiving the first dose, I experienced symptoms of partial facial and oro-nasal numbness, tingling i.e. possibly Bell's palsy that appeared to last a few days...and then resolved. However, approximately 3 weeks later, these symptoms reappeared and have persisted. What I do not know, is whether this situations would be aggravated or significantly worsened by the second dose.
I did a little research and according to an article published by Web MD on Dec 17th, 2020 , the FDA recommended monitoring people for potential cases of Bell's Palsy (4 our of 43, 000 participants in the Pfizer trial developed symptoms of Bell's Palsy but there is not enough data to show whether the cases were tied directly to the vaccine . In Medpage Today, published April 27th, 2021, you were quoted saying that the VIgiBase findings indicate a "slight imbalance during the phase 111 trials of both mRNA vaccines, suggesting a potential safety signal".. "however no clear signals have been detected in any of the US vaccine surveillance systems"...which suggests there is simply not enough data. I have reported my symptoms both to Family Medicine and the VAERS (which relies on the patient filling in a comment space and is limited in its data capture, though I believe they are doing the best they can). Given this uncertainty, I am wondering if I should have my second dose (which I very much want). I would welcome your perspective. Thank you. Evie H.