Gregory Poland, MD, director of the Mayo Clinic’s Vaccine Research Group in Rochester, Minnesota, remains a steadfast vaccination advocate — even though he developed tinnitus soon after receiving his second dose of COVID vaccine.
A little more than a year ago, Poland was driving back from the hospital after receiving his second shot when he nearly veered out of his lane.
“It was like someone suddenly blew a dog whistle in my ear,” Poland told MedPage Today. “It has been pretty much unrelenting.”
Since then, Poland said he has been experiencing what he describes as life-altering tinnitus, or ringing in the ear.
He remains steadfast that opting to receive his booster — after which his tinnitus briefly disappeared but then returned at a slightly higher pitch that made it just a bit less bothersome — was the right move. After all, it would be “way too ironic” for a prominent vaccinologist to die of COVID, he said.
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“My own best guess is that this may be an off-target inflammatory response, inflammation of the temporal lobe area of the brain where sounds are generated or made sense of,” Poland said.
