At the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI) 2023 Annual Meeting in San Antonio, TX, data was presented indicating that after the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine there were more delayed cutaneous reactions than for other COVID-19 vaccines tested.¹

This research was authored by Charles Miller, MD, with the United States Air Force.

Miller and colleagues noted that incidence of cutaneous reactions following COVID-19 vaccinations has increased, with most reports focusing on acute reactions.

They added, however, that few studies have investigated delayed cutaneous reactions that occur 7 days or more following vaccination.

This study aims to investigate whether delayed cutaneous reactions are more frequently reported following COVID-19 vaccines compared to other available vaccines such as influenza.

The researchers used a Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) database specific to those who were eligible for military healthcare and analyzed adverse reaction reports in the period between December of 2020 and July of 2022 after both COVID-19 and influenza vaccinations.

They reviewed reports that included "rash" or "hives" to determine when cutaneous symptoms occurred following vaccination.

Overall, the investigators’ results indicated that 2.2% of COVID-19 vaccine reports and 7.6% of Influenza vaccine reports had "rash" or "hives" mentioned.

Despite this fact, the research team found no significant difference in the frequency of reported cutaneous reactions between COVID-19 and influenza vaccines.

The team noted that delayed cutaneous reactions were only reported in COVID-19 vaccine reports with "rash" or "hives," with a prevalence of 25.5%.

Of these reaction reports, the Moderna vaccine was found to have the highest incidence of delayed cutaneous reactions, at a rate of 84.7%, over Johnson & Johnson and over Pfizer.

References

1. Miller C, Skerrett C, Quinn J. Delayed Cutaneous Reactions Following COVID-19 Vaccinations – A Military Cohort Analysis. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2023 Feb;151(2):AB233. doi: 10.1016/j.jaci.2022.12.725. Epub 2023 Feb 3. PMCID: PMC9895865.