Goochland County man suffers ‘rare’ severe reaction to COVID-19 vaccine

GOOCHLAND COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — A Goochland County man suffered a severe reaction after getting his COVID-19 vaccine and VCU doctors believe it was a direct result of the shot.

Richard Terrell got the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine earlier this month. He suffered a severe rash that spread over this entire body and turned his skin red. The 74 year old was admitted to the hospital and spent five days at the VCU Medical Center.

Terrell was released from the hospital and is now sharing his vaccination story as he recovers from the comfort of his Goochland home. He tells 8News that he’s still very weak and that it will take some time for him to fully recover, but he’s thankful to have received his dose.

“It all just happened so fast. My skin peeled off,” Terrell said as he looked down. “It’s still coming off on my hands now.”

On March 6, Terrell received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in Ashland. He shares that everything went perfectly fine, however four days later he started experiencing symptoms.

“I began to feel a little discomfort in my armpit and then a few days later I began to get an itchy rash, and then after that I began to swell and my skin turned red,” Terrell explained.

Terrell told 8News as days passed, things got worse. He had a consultation with a dermatologist and was told to go to the emergency room; on March 19 Terrell was admitted. The rash quickly spread over Terrell’s body. His legs and hands were almost unrecognizable from swelling and his skin was red and patchy.

“It was stinging, burning and itching,” Terrell said as he described the pain. “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.”

Dermatology Hospitalist at VCU Health, FNU Nutan, is one of Terrell’s doctors. After conducting a biopsy over the weekend, it was determined that it was a drug reaction. Dr. Nutan says it could have been life-threatening if untreated.

“Skin is the largest organ in the body, and when it gets inflamed like his was, you can lose a lot of fluids and electrolytes,” said Dr.Nutan.

She goes on to say that through careful testing and process of elimination, as well as consultation with colleagues around the world — it’s been determined that the rare reaction was sparked by 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,” said Dr. Nutan.

She and her colleagues believe Terrell’s reaction has something to do with his genetic make-up and the vaccine type. Dr. Nutan says Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are mRNA’s and Johnson & Johnson is a vector viral.

Regardless, the reaction Terrell suffered is extremely rare.

“If you look at the risk for adverse reaction for the vaccine it’s really, really low,” Dr. Nutan told 8News. “We haven’t seen a great concern at all. I am a big proponent of the vaccine.”

Terrell and Dr. Nutan are encouraging people to get vaccinated and monitor their response. Dr. Nutan goes on to say, this reaction is treatable and she’s seen worse symptoms of COVID-19 over the past year.

8News was told that Terrell’s reaction was reported to the CDC and VCU doctors will be submitting the case to a medical journal this week.

Buying or selling fake COVID-19 vaccination cards could land you in hot water

With travel restrictions being put in place for those without the vaccine, some are turning to buying and selling fake COVID-19 vaccination cards

Lafayette, LA., (KLFY) As millions more people continue to be vaccinated across the country on a daily basis, some are choosing not to receive the vaccine.

With the possibility of travel restrictions being put in place for those without the vaccine, some are turning to buying and selling fake COVID-19 vaccination cards.

“There are websites that are being created to sell fake vaccine cards to look like the CDC cards that some people are opting to pay for, instead of actually getting the vaccine,” Chris Babin with the Better Business Bureau of Acadiana said.

Officials are now warning against people posting and sharing their vaccine information on social media.

“We would caution people against that because your personal information is on that card and not share it because things you put on social media isn’t as protected as you might think,” Babin said.

It’s also possible to be scammed when trying to buy a fake vaccination card, according to Babin.

“Your personal identifiable information could end up in the hands of a scammer because they might need that information to fill out your “fake vaccine card” and also you’re going to have to pay for it, so that financial information can be taken by the scammer,” he said.

At KLFY, we asked our team to recreate a fake vaccination card. Within 15 minutes, we were able to recreate a fake vaccination card. Since other people had posted their vaccine information online like the lot number, product name, and clinic site, it only had to be copied over.

A Florida man was recently fired from his job for selling fake COVID-19 vaccination cards, according to media outlets.

We also reached out to the Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry’s office to see if charges could be pursued against those who forge or use these documents.

A statement was issued saying they are aware of the situation, and at this time, they have not received any reports of this occurring here. However, other states are seeing a growing trend in people doing so.

While we have not received a response from Landry regarding whether or not this could be punishable by law, according to Louisiana statues, this could be considered forgery.

Forgery is considered to be a felony crime which can be punishable in both fines and up to ten years in prison.