Rejection of corneal transplant after administration of SARS-CoV-2 messenger RNA vaccine

Author(s): Hisataka Fujimoto

Purpose: This study reports the frequency of corneal allograft rejection following vaccination with a messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and describes the rate of rejection.

Methods: This retrospective and observational study included 64 patients who underwent keratoplasty, and the rates of rejection corrected for the observation period were analyzed. Results: Nine cases of rejection were observed following mRNA vaccination, with an observational period of 804 days, while the no-vaccination control group had two cases of rejection during an observational period of 923 days. The overall rate ratio of rejection related to vaccination, compared to that in the control group, was 5.74. Notably, the second vaccination correlated with the most prominent rate ratio 27.

Conclusion: Corneal transplant rejection is suspected to be associated with SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination. Rejection, believed to be induced by vaccination, is primarily observed in the early stages of the vaccination process.