Infectious Disease Specialist Questions Infectious Disease

primary care doctor told me not to get second dose of covid moderna vaccine after I got bells palsy from the first dose booster shot?

My primary care doctor told me not to get second dose of moderna vaccine after I got bells palsy from the first dose but I want to know if I should still get a booster shot?

Female | 38 years old

1 Answer

Thanks for the question. This is difficult. Bell's Palsy has been reported anecdotally after the vaccine. No causal association is proven because Bell's Palsy does not occur more frequently after the vaccine than it does in the general population. Also, there are other established causes, including Herpes simplex 1 and Lyme Disease. Nevertheless, I cannot ask you to ignore the possibility, and I therefore cannot tell you to take any risk. That, you must decide for yourself. I wish you well.