Virginia man who received the COVID-19 vaccine from Johnson & Johnson developed a severe rash that has spread all over his body

© Stephen Zenner / SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty Images
A nurse loading a syringe with a dose of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine in Athens, Ohio. Stephen Zenner / SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty Images

• Richard Terrell’s skin turned red and swollen after receiving J&J’s COVID-19 vaccine.
• His doctors say they believe it was directly caused by the vaccine.
• But they said the reaction was “extremely rare” and encouraged people to keep getting the vaccine.
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A 74-year-old man from Virginia developed a severe rash that spread all over his body after receiving the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine on March 6, WRIC’s Talya Cunningham reported.

Richard Terrell from Goochland, Va., Told the news channel that he began to experience symptoms about four days after receiving the single-shot vaccine.

“I started to feel a bit of discomfort in my armpit, then a few days later I started having an itchy rash, then after that I started to swell and my skin turned red Terrell told WRIC.

The rash has spread all over his body, causing his legs and arms to swell and his skin to peel away, he said.

Insider has reached out to Johnson & Johnson for comment.

-8WRIC Richmond News (@ 8NEWS) March 30, 2021

“It was pungent, burning and itchy,” Terrell told WRIC. “Every time I bent my arms or my legs, like the inside of my knee, it was very painful where the skin was swollen and rubbed against itself.”

According to WRIC, the rash initially prompted Terrell to see a dermatologist, who told Terrell to go to the emergency room immediately.

Terrell then spent five days at VCU Medical Center, where the rash was treated and doctors biopsied the rash to see what was causing it, WRIC reported.

His doctors say the vaccine is still safe

One of Terrell’s dermatology doctors at the hospital, Dr Fnu Nutan, told WRIC they determined the vaccine caused an “extremely rare” reaction. Nutan said doctors had ruled out the possibility of other viral infections, COVID-19 itself, and kidney and liver problems.

Nutan said she believed there was something in Terrell’s genetic makeup that made him react this way to the vaccine, according to the WRIC.

Nutan told WRIC that Terrell’s experience shouldn’t prevent others from receiving the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says is safe and effective.

There have been no similar reports of serious reactions to the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which was approved for use in the United States at the end of February.

It has in fact been reported that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine may be the top vaccine for those who have received OK in the US so far, as it only requires one shot, turned out. effective against some of the newer variants and appears to have milder side effects than the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines.

‘I wouldn’t hesitate to get it’

Those who receive the vaccine should just watch for any possible reaction and go to the hospital if they experience anything similar, Nutan told WRIC.

Read more: Scientists are rushing to develop new types of drugs that could fight this pandemic and protect us from the next

Nutan said Terrell’s rash could have been life threatening, but only if it was left untreated.

“If you look at the risk of an adverse reaction to the vaccine, it’s really, really low,” Nutan told WRIC. “We haven’t seen much concern at all. I’m a big supporter of the vaccine.”

Terrell said he was always happy to have received the vaccine.

“I wouldn’t hesitate to get it,” he told WRIC.