Why You Should Still Get the COVID-19 Vaccine Even If You Have (or Plan to Get) Dermal Fillers or Profhilo

Update 22/03/2021: As a clinic we have taken the advice of our regulatory authority and advise that you should not have either dermal fillers and/or Profhilo in the 2 weeks before your vaccination and 4 weeks after said vaccination.

After headlines linking COVID-19 vaccines (specifically the Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine) to filler swelling shook the beauty world, doctors have flooded the news with a resounding message: The risk is extremely rare; get vaccinated.

You may have read at the end of 2020 about some people who developed puffiness or swelling where their dermal filler was placed for a short transient period of time following their COVID-19 vaccine.

Of course, some people may be concerned and be put off from having the vaccine. However, we wanted to provide further information into these events and support you during this time.  

It is especially important to have the COVID-19 vaccine so please don’t be put off from having the vaccine. It is extremely important that as many of us are vaccinated against COVID-19 as possible.

The incidence of this risk of swelling or inflammation is so low. Many reports say that it is as little as 0.001%. Other reports have stated a risk as low as 1 patient in 10,000, so it is extremely low risk.

The idea of a vaccine is to trigger an immune response by ramping up the immune system to provide protection from the virus. The immune response puts your body on high alert for any foreign material that and in rare cases may include dermal fillers. Very rarely, this can cause mild or transient swelling to parts of the body or transient puffiness or swelling to the dermal filler.

These side effects are hardly unprecedented either. Delayed dermal events with both hyaluronic acid and non-hyaluronic acid fillers have been documented extensively throughout literature, even prior to the COVID vaccine.

This temporary swelling can happen very rarely with anybody who has had dermal filler treatment and can be due to infections or anything that triggers the immune system, like a vaccination. When this occurs, it is known as a delayed hypersensitivity reaction, and can be easily treated.  

Currently the COVID-19 vaccine is under the spotlight and is being rolled out at such a large pace, so there may be more of these mild side-effects due to the sheer volume of vaccinations taking place. However, the incidence of this happening is extremely low.

These reactions are usually self-limiting, and nothing to be concerned about. However, if you are worried, please do contact us and we are more than happy to schedule a call and discuss your concerns.

We recommend that you do not have dermal filler and Profhilo treatment 2 weeks before and 4 weeks after your vaccine. The current vaccines come in 2 doses and is currently being separated by 12 weeks in the UK.  

If you have the vaccine and do suffer any reaction, please do contact us as for help. Most importantly, we will support you through this, but please keep in mind it is usually very short lived and will settle completely.

Please do contact us if you are worried or have any questions at all and we will be more than happy to help.

Email: info@healthandaesthetics.co.uk