Most-read 2021 – Can dermal filler patients have the Moderna vaccine?

The coronavirus vaccine from Moderna has been found to cause side effects in people with hyaluronic acid facial dermal fillers.

When reviewing the vaccine in a trial, the FDA advisory committee noted that several participants experienced temporary facial swelling localised in the areas they had filler in their face after receiving the vaccination.

One of the participants had filler two weeks before the vaccination and another, six months prior.

FDA medical officer Dr Rachel Zhang said that in Moderna’s own phase 3 trial three people developed facial or lip swelling after receiving the vaccine. Two had filler in their cheeks within six months of vaccination and the other had lip filler two days after receiving the vaccine.

However, in all cases the reactions were small and easily treated by medical staff with the administration of steroids or antihistamines, and shouldn’t stop people with filler taking the vaccine, said the doctors on the FDA trial committee.

Dr Purvi Parikh, an allergist and immunologist, told Health: "A filler is a foreign body and when your immune system is switching on due to the vaccine it would make sense that areas that have foreign bodies that aren't normally in your body would also have inflammation – this is because your immune system is designed to counteract any foreign substance.”

This kind of inflammatory response in people with dermal filler has also been known to happen with vaccines against other viruses, though it hasn’t yet been reported with the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine.

The reaction isn’t guaranteed to occur in everyone who has HA filler and receives the Moderna vaccine.  

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