COVID Shots Associated With Increased Risk of Blindness

Analysis by Dr. Joseph Mercola Fact Checked

June 13, 2023

Story at-a-glance

The broad range of reported side effects of the COVID jab is astounding. Effects involve just about every part, organ and system of the body, including a range of eye problems
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s data mining of the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) reveals reports ranging from eye discomfort, bruising and numbness, to serious conditions such as retinal vein and retinal artery occlusions, eye hemorrhage and retinal and ophthalmic migraines
Two recent papers highlight the risk of ophthalmic vascular events, which can lead to blindness, following the COVID jab. Less than 20% of patients who experience central retinal artery occlusion, i.e., a blockage in the main artery of the retina, regain functional visual acuity in the affected eye
A systematic review of 49 studies found that most vascular events involving the eyes occurred after the first dose, and were more common after the Pfizer and AstraZeneca shots
A second risk assessment concluded that, across age groups, the risk of retinal vascular occlusion more than doubled in the two years following the mRNA COVID jab

While U.S. health agencies have admitted that myocarditis (heart inflammation), and a related condition called pericarditis (inflammation of the heart sack), are potential side effects of the COVID jab,¹ the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has ignored hundreds of other safety signals that have shown up during their Proportional Reporting Ratio (PRR) data mining of the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS).

For example, in individuals aged 18 and older, there are 770 safety signals for different adverse events, and more than 500 of them have a stronger safety signal than myocarditis and pericarditis.²

Range of Eye Problems Reported Post-Jab

The broad range of reported side effects is also astounding. They involve just about every part, organ and system of the body, including a range of eye problems. For example, looking at the list of reported side effects in 18-and-over age group in the CDC’s PRR document,³ we find:

Ocular discomfort

Eye contusions (bruising)

Eye color change

Eyelid sensory disorder

Hypoesthesia eye (numbness of the eye, typically resulting from nerve damage and/or blood clots that result in tissue damage)

Retinal vein occlusion (blood clot in the vein that carries deoxygenated blood from your retina back to your heart)

Retinal artery occlusion (blood clot in the artery that feeds blood to your retina)

Eye hemorrhage

Retinal migraine (a retinal disease accompanied by migraine caused by ischemia or vascular spasm in or behind the affected eye; bouts can cause diminished vision or temporary blindness)

Ophthalmic migraine (a nervous system problem typically involving the third, fourth or sixth cranial nerves that allow for various eye movements; the condition is associated with severe headache and pain around the eyes; double vision is common during bouts)

Ophthalmic Vascular Events Linked to COVID Jab

Two recent papers specifically highlight the risk of ophthalmic vascular events, which can lead to blindness, following the COVID jab. Basically, what we’re talking about are acute ischemic strokes that affect the eyes and can cause permanent loss of vision.

For example, according to research⁴ published in 2021, less than 20% of patients who experience central retinal artery occlusion,⁵ i.e., a blockage in the main artery of the retina, regain functional visual acuity in the affected eye.

The first paper, a systematic review⁶ of 49 studies published in the journal Vaccines in December 2022, found that most vascular events involving the eyes (46.2%) occurred after the first dose, and were more common after the Pfizer and AstraZeneca shots.

“Ophthalmic vascular events are serious vision-threatening side effects that have been associated with COVID-19 vaccination. Clinicians should be aware of the possible association between COVID-19 vaccines and ocular vascular events to provide early diagnosis and treatment,” the authors concluded.

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Prolonged Increased Risk of Blindness Post-Jab

The second article was published May 2, 202 in NPJ Vaccines.⁷ Here, the researchers did a risk assessment to determine just how common retinal vascular occlusion — which can cause blindness — was after the COVID-19 jab. The results were devastating.

Across age groups, the risk more than doubled in the two years following the shot. For a detailed breakdown of retinal vascular occlusion incidence among various age groups, genders and ethnicities, see Table 2 on this page.⁸ According to Retsef Levi, that amounts to one additional case for every 300 seniors jabbed (age 64 and older), and one additional case for every 1,000 people jabbed between the ages of 18 and 64.⁹

According to the CDC,¹⁰ 58,739,476 seniors aged 65 and older have received at least one dose. Divide that by 300, and we could be looking at 195,798 additional cases of retinal vascular occlusion and potential blindness among the elderly. And that’s just in the United States.

If we look at the 18 and older age group, the CDC claims 238,163,284 Americans have received at least one dose.¹¹ Divide that by 1,000, and we’re potentially looking at an additional 238,163 instances of eye damage that could lead to blindness.

That’s an awful lot of visually impaired people. For reference, in 2017, an estimated 1.08 million Americans were blind.¹² Of that 1.08 million, only 141,000 were younger than 40 (about 13%).

Retinal Vascular Occlusion Post-Jab Not Likely Coincidental

Patients included in the NPJ Vaccines study¹³ were jabbed between January 2020 and December 2022. Individuals with confirmed COVID-19, a history of retinal vascular occlusion, and those who used medication within four weeks of getting the jab that could affect blood coagulation were excluded. In the end, 739,066 “vaccinated” cohorts were matched to the same number of unvaccinated individuals at a ratio of 1-to-1. As reported in this paper:¹⁴

“Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines are associated with several ocular manifestations. Emerging evidence has been reported; however, the causality between the two is debatable. We aimed to investigate the risk of retinal vascular occlusion after COVID-19 vaccination ...

We employed multivariable-adjusted Cox proportional hazards models after performing a 1:1 propensity score matching between the vaccinated and unvaccinated cohorts.

Individuals with COVID-19 vaccination had a higher risk of all forms of retinal vascular occlusion in 2 years after vaccination, with an overall hazard ratio of 2.19 (95% confidence interval 2.00–2.39).

The cumulative incidence of retinal vascular occlusion was significantly higher in the vaccinated cohort compared to the unvaccinated cohort, 2 years and 12 weeks after vaccination. The risk of retinal vascular occlusion significantly increased during the first 2 weeks after vaccination and persisted for 12 weeks.

Additionally, individuals with first and second dose of BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273 had significantly increased risk of retinal vascular occlusion 2 years following vaccination, while no disparity was detected between brand and dose of vaccines.

This large multicenter study strengthens the findings of previous cases. Retinal vascular occlusion may not be a coincidental finding after COVID-19 vaccination.”

The authors cite 10 different case reports^{15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24} of retinal vascular occlusion following vaccination, as well as two additional literary reviews^25,26 on the condition as it relates to mRNA COVID “vaccination.” Unfortunately, both are behind a paywall. You can review the case reports, however, if you want.

As for how the mRNA COVID jab might cause retinal vascular occlusion, the authors’ hypothesis is that “molecular mimicry of the S protein, which shares sequence homology with human proteins, may play a central role.”

Special Vaccine Issue to Focus on Post-Jab Eye Problems

Apparently, medical scientists are concerned enough about what they’re seeing so far that the journal Vaccine has issued a call for manuscripts for a special issue of “Ophthalmic Adverse Events Following SARS-CoV-2 Vaccination.” The submission deadline is December 31, 2023, so obviously, we won’t see this special edition until sometime in 2024. As noted in the manuscript request:²⁷

“Over the past 20 months, several reports and studies have highlighted the adverse events (such as myocarditis, Guillain–Barré syndrome, etc.) following the administration of these vaccines. In this special edition, we are compiling case reports, series, review articles and studies focused on ophthalmic adverse events following SARS-CoV-2 vaccinations. The submissions may include:

1. Case of rare ophthalmic adverse events following vaccination

2. Studies reporting risk of ophthalmic adverse events following vaccine

3. Analysis of global databases reporting vaccine-associated ophthalmic adverse events

4. Review articles evaluating published literature on ocular adverse events with special emphasis on underlying potential mechanisms.”

Signs and Symptoms of Retinal Vascular Occlusion

In closing, it’s important to realize that the primary symptom of retinal vascular occlusion is a sudden change in vision — be it blurry vision, or a partial or complete loss of vision — typically only in one eye. Rarely ever is there pain.

Should this happen, seek evaluation immediately. The risk of more severe and/or permanent vision loss increases the longer the treatment delay. Your ophthalmologist (eye doctor) can give you a diagnosis, but it would be prudent to seek emergency room care if you suddenly lose your vision in one eye — particularly if you’ve received one or more mRNA COVID shots.

Since this is like a “stroke” in your eye, the sooner you are able to provide the tissue that is not being supplied with oxygen, the more likely it is you will recover function. We know that there are two supplements that will help with these types of reperfusion injuries, methylene blue and melatonin. I discussed this in my interview with Dr. Russel Reiter.

In May 2023, actor Jamie Foxx suffered what is being reported as a stroke that left him partially paralyzed and blind.²⁸ Hollywood journalist AJ Benza claimed Foxx had been pressured to get the shot for the production of “Back in Action,” but sources close to Foxx claim his condition is unrelated to the COVID jab, and no one has even confirmed that he got the shot, although it was supposedly required on the set.

While it’s unclear if the mRNA shot had anything to do with Foxx’s sudden incapacitation, his condition resembles what I’ve discussed here, which drives home the point that this is something that needs to be taken seriously.

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