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. 2021 Mar;26(10):2100193.
doi: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2021.26.10.2100193.

Acute onset supraclavicular lymphadenopathy coinciding with intramuscular mRNA vaccination against COVID-19 may be related to vaccine injection technique, Spain, January and February 2021

María Fernández-Prada  1   2 , Irene Rivero-Calle  2   3   4 , Ana Calvache-González  5 , Federico Martinón-Torres  2   3   4
Affiliations

Acute onset supraclavicular lymphadenopathy coinciding with intramuscular mRNA vaccination against COVID-19 may be related to vaccine injection technique, Spain, January and February 2021

María Fernández-Prada et al. Euro Surveill. 2021 Mar.

Abstract

Monitoring adverse reactions following immunisation is essential, particularly for new vaccines such as those against COVID-19. We describe 20 cases of acute onset of a single supraclavicular lymphadenopathy manifesting between 24 h and 9 days after ipsilateral intramuscular administration of an mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine, referred to our WHO Collaborating Centre for Vaccine Safety. Our results indicate that the swelling of supraclavicular lymph nodes following immunisation may constitute a benign and self-limited condition, related to a higher than recommended injection site.

Keywords: COVID-19; Vaccine; adverse events; mRNA vaccine; supraclavicular lymphadenopathy.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: FM-T has received honoraria from GSK group of companies, Pfizer Inc, Sanofi Pasteur, MSD, Seqirus, Biofabri and Janssen for taking part in advisory boards and expert meetings and for acting as a speaker in congresses outside the scope of the submitted work. FM-T has also acted as principal investigator in randomised controlled trials of the above-mentioned companies as well as Ablynx, Gilead, Regeneron, Roche, Abbott, Novavax, and MedImmune, with honoraria paid to his institution. FM-T receives support for research activities from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Proyecto de Investigación en Salud, Acción Estratégica en Salud): Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria (FIS; PI070069/PI1000540/PI1601569/PI1901090) del plan nacional de I + D + I and ‘fondos FEDER’. IRC reports personal fees from GSK, Pfizer, Sanofi Pasteur and MSD for taking part in advisory boards and expert meetings; and honoraria paid to her institution as sub-investigator in RCTs for GSK, Pfizer, Sanofi Pasteur, MSD, Sequirus, Janssen, Ablynx, Regeneron, Roche, Abbott, Novavax and MedImmune outside the submitted work.

Figures

Figure
Figure
Supraclavicular lymphadenopathy ipsilateral to the vaccination arm (left), COVID-19 vaccination, Spain, 2021
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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