Tens of thousands of people are demanding a deeper investigation into a possible link between tinnitus and the COVID-19 vaccines. Many have reported a severe loss of hearing, hyperacusis (a disorder in loudness perception), and other hearing-related problems soon after being vaccinated. Some cases are so severe that one complainant could not hear the radio in his car over the noise in his head while driving.
As of April 14, the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has received over 18,700 reports of people developing tinnitus after vaccination, Forbes reports.
A group of over four thousand people met on Facebook to share their experiences of newly-developed tinnitus after the COVID shot. One member, Shaowen Bao, an associate professor in the physiology department of the College of Medicine at Arizona University, investigated further.
Professor Bao surveyed 398 members of the Facebook group and discovered that the participants suffered from a range of symptoms associated with severe tinnitus; these included “headaches, dizziness, vertigo, ear pain, anxiety, and depression,” reports NBC.
Moreover, the majority of those surveyed reported developing the condition after the initial vaccine rather than after booster shots.
Another of those reporting the link is Dr. Gregory Poland, a vaccination expert, founder, and director of the Mayo Clinic’s Vaccine Research Group in Rochester, Minnesota.
He claimed publicly that his life has never been the same since the vaccination; Dr. Poland constantly hears a “shrill whistle,” which has affected his sleep and quality of life.
Dr. Poland asserts that he’s not alone. Having gone public with the extent of his condition, he claims to receive messages and emails from strangers every day who share similar tinnitus-related symptoms.
The growing awareness and circulation of tinnitus as a potential side-effect of the COVID-19 vaccine has led to growing investigations into the connection. Yale University is currently conducting an investigation into the link with many people willingly participating.
Tinnitus is one of a number of potential side-effects linked to the COVID-19 vaccine that is beginning to increasingly receive attention. The news follows the most recent story of a thirty-two year old British psychologist who died of blood-clotting ten days after receiving the AstraZeneca Covid vaccine.
