Japanese Woman Who Went Bald After Receiving Moderna Vaccine Now...

Hair Loss Starting the Day After the First COVID-19 Vaccine Dose in June Last Year
Complete Baldness → Passing Through Gray Hair, Now Grown Enough to Tie ... Also Gave Birth to Second Child

The recent appearance of a Japanese woman who went bald after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.
It was reported that her gray hair was dyed with hair manicure. Photo by Blog capture

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyunjung] A 29-year-old Japanese woman, Ms. A, who experienced hair loss after receiving the first dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine last year, recently shared an update on her blog showing significant hair regrowth.

Ms. A recently revealed photos of the back of her head, showing that her hair has grown enough to be tied up, and also shared the news that she gave birth to her second daughter last month. After receiving the first dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine on June 29 last year, Ms. A began experiencing hair loss side effects from the second day. On the day of vaccination, she only had symptoms such as pain and hives on the injected arm, but from the next day, her hair, eyebrows, and nose hair started falling out massively.

Ms. A said, "On the third day after vaccination, there was a clump of hair about the size of a small mouse in the bathroom drain, and a week later, I found signs of alopecia areata that gradually increased in size." She added, "From the 14th day after vaccination, I wore a wig to go to work, and on the 17th day, I experienced feeling the wind on my scalp for the first time in my life."

She had no underlying health conditions, and doctors were unable to find the cause of the sudden hair loss. Ms. A suspected hair loss as a side effect of the vaccine but expressed frustration that proving a causal link between the vaccine and hair loss is practically difficult. In November last year, she submitted her case to the 'Vaccination Health Damage Relief System' and is currently awaiting the results, which she said typically take about a year to be finalized.

The progression of hair loss in Mr. A. Photo by Blog capture

The woman has continuously shared her hair loss journey with the public through her blog. The hair loss stopped about three weeks after vaccination, and from September last year, she began steroid treatment for hair loss. Fortunately, her hair started to grow back, but instead of her original black hair, white hair grew. According to a blog post she made last month, the proportion of white hair has gradually decreased to about 10%. After sharing this update, her blog has received supportive and empathetic comments from people who have experienced similar symptoms. Meanwhile, since February, Ms. A has been serializing her hair loss story as a webtoon on LINE Manga. She participates in the story development while a webtoon artist draws the illustrations.

In South Korea, there are also numerous cases of people suffering from hair loss after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. However, hair loss is not recognized as a vaccine side effect. Since hair loss is a very common condition and many people have received the COVID-19 vaccine, it is very difficult to establish a causal relationship. Additionally, hair loss can also occur as a post-COVID-19 symptom. Vaccine experts say that all vaccines, including the COVID-19 vaccine, stimulate the immune system and cause inflammatory responses, so hair loss can very rarely occur as a side effect.