Coronavirus: Hong Kong study finds higher risk of facial paralysis with Sinovac jabs

University of Hong Kong team estimates 4.8 more cases of Bell’s palsy within 42 days out of pool of 100,000 recipients of the Chinese-made shots

The corresponding number of incidents for German-made BioNTech doses is two, the researchers write in a Lancet journal

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A study has found an ‘increased risk’ of Bell’s palsy following Covid-19 vaccinations with Sinovac jabs. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 9:31pm, 17 Aug 2021Updated: 10:11pm, 17 Aug 2021

A Hong Kong study has found an “increased risk” of a rare condition involving temporary facial paralysis following Covid-19 vaccinations with Chinese Sinovac jabs, but researchers urged more people to get inoculated in a city that has spent months limping towards herd immunity.

The University of Hong Kong team found that if 100,000 people had taken the Sinovac CoronaVac doses, there would be 4.8 more cases of Bell’s palsy within 42 days.

“Our study shows an overall increased risk of Bell’s palsy after CoronaVac vaccination, but not after BNT162b2 vaccination,” the academics wrote in the Lancet Infectious Diseases journal on Tuesday, referring to the German-made BioNTech shots.

Residents queue up for vaccination at Central Library in Causeway Bay. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

They found there would be two more cases of the facial condition in every 100,000 people who had received BioNTech doses.

But the team, led by Professor Ian Wong Chi-kei, head of the department of pharmacology and pharmacy, said more data was needed to conclude whether BioNTech jabs increased overall risks of Bell’s palsy.

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