Old Man Administered COVID-19 Vaccine Ends Up With Unusual Reaction, Skin Peels Off

There are different COVID-19 vaccines available and each may leave select individuals with an unusual kind of reaction. But in the case of 74-year-old Richard Terrell of Goochland, his reaction to the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is rare but alarming.

According to WRIC, Terrell started seeing getting unusual symptoms four days after being administered a Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine. He revealed that he started to experience discomfort in his armpit before a rash started to cover his whole body.

“It all just happened so fast. My skin peeled off,” Terrell stated. “It was stinging, burning and itching. Whenever I bent my arms or legs, like the inside of my knee, it was very painful where the skin was swollen and was rubbing against itself.”

Terrell sought medical attention and proceeded to the emergency room at a hospital. It was here where he was told that he had an adverse reaction to the vaccine.

“We ruled out all the viral infections, we ruled out COVID-19 itself, we made sure that his kidneys and liver was okay, and finally we came to the conclusion that it was the vaccine that he had received that was the cause,” Dr. Fnu Nutan explained.

Further, Nutan said that had Terrel not proceeded to get medical aid, the episode could have been life-threatening. However, she added and said that such reactions are extremely rare.

“If you look at the risk for adverse reaction for the vaccine it’s really, really low,” she said. “We haven’t seen a great concern at all. I am a big proponent of the vaccine.”

People are advised to seek medical consultations before getting any of the COVID-19 vaccines. A reason for this is that some may end up with some kind of reaction to the shots. There have been rare cases of reactions such as the one encountered by Terrell. And as Dr. Natan said, some may be life-threatening if not immediately addressed.