Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine can cause swelling in people with fillers

• As advisers to an FDA advisory committee heard, the Modern coronavirus vaccine caused facial swelling in two study participants with recent dermal fillers.
• The swelling is an immune response to the vaccine. Inflammation is part of the immune system that kicks in and can react momentarily to foreign objects, including fillers.
• Experts say this should not prevent people who have used cosmetic fillers in the past from being vaccinated against coronavirus.
• Visit the Insider home page for more stories.

During the review of the Modern coronavirus vaccine, advisers at a meeting of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) committee were informed that the vaccine caused temporary facial edema in two study participants. Both had recently received dermal fillers.

Dr. Litjen Tan, director of strategy for the Immunization Action Coalition, told Insider that the response is not a cause for concern. It is simply evidence of the immune system taking action.

“This is reflected in the systemic reactions we see, like a day or two with a low fever, etc.,” Tan wrote to Insider by email. “That same immune response can also react against cosmetic fillings, since those fillings would be seen as ‘foreign’ (immunologically speaking).”

The inflammation seen in these patients is a natural immune reaction to a substance that is not natural within the body.

This can seem intimidating, especially for people who contributed to the 64% jump in cosmetic procedures – especially botox injections and lip fillers – in the first months of the block.

But experts say this should not prevent patients from being vaccinated.

“One thing to know is that individuals with these responses after vaccination were easily treated with steroids and anti-inflammatory drugs without deleterious long-term results,” Dr. David Verhoeven, a specialist in virology and professor of Vet Microbiology and Preventive Medicine in Iowa State University, said Insider.

If patients had dermal fillers that did not fully dissolve, experts advise that they should speak to their primary care physician about their options.

“I would definitely suggest that the individual inform their health care provider that they have received a skin injection, so that the doctor is aware of the potential for an adverse reaction,” Verhoeven told Insider.