Case Series: 3rd Pfizer mRNA Booster Triggers Giant Cell Arteritis

A group of physicians at Toho University in Tokyo, Japan conducted a case series study concerning a 77-year old male who developed fever, general fatigue and headache after receiving the third dose of COVID-19 vaccination (Pfizer-BioNTech BNT162b2). Observing nodular (lump-like) swelling plus tenderness of the bilateral temporal arteries, the study team determined that an autoimmune vasculitis affecting large and medium-sized blood vessels known as giant cell arteritis (GCA) was the culprit, likely linked to the mRNA vaccination. It turns out, although not widely published in American trade media and especially not in mainstream press, COVID-19 mRNA vaccines have been associated with the development of immune-mediated diseases, such as this one--a condition that if left undiagnosed can lead to blindness and stroke due to inflammation and damage to the affected blood vessels.
What is giant cell arteritis?