• Case reports of transverse myelitis (TM) and CNS demyelination after COVID-19 vaccination exist, but they are extremely rare. A systematic review identified only 32 published cases across all approved COVID-19 vaccine types¹, and a VAERS review noted 593 TM reports among 11.7 billion administered doses².
• The European Medicines Agency recommended adding TM to the product information for the Janssen (Ad26.COV2.S) adenovirus-vector vaccine based on 11 assessed cases (possible/probable causal relationship) out of more than 33 million doses³. The Netherlands Pharmacovigilance Centre similarly noted higher-than-expected TM reports for AstraZeneca and Janssen, but stated no conclusion could be drawn for Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna mRNA vaccines⁴.
• Large population-level studies of mRNA vaccines—the most widely used COVID-19 vaccines globally—found no increased risk of TM. The Global COVID Vaccine Safety Project analyzed ~99 million people and reported observed-expected ratios of 0.74 (95% CI: 0.5–1.0) for BNT162b2 and 1.5 (95% CI: 0.8–2.6) for mRNA-1273, concluding no increased risk⁵. The U.S. Vaccine Safety Datalink also found no significant association between mRNA COVID-19 vaccines and TM⁶.
• A Korean self-controlled case series found an elevated incidence rate ratio (2.41) within 42 days after COVID-19 vaccination, but its authors explicitly stated that “a clear causal relationship between SARS-CoV-2 vaccine and ATM still needs further research”⁷.
• The U.S. National Academies committee concluded there was “inadequate evidence to accept or reject a causal relationship” between COVID-19 vaccines and TM⁵.
• Paralysis is a potential neurological symptom of transverse myelitis when it occurs; it is not a direct, standalone effect of vaccination.
• The claim is therefore misleading because it generalizes a rare, unconfirmed association—mostly linked to specific adenovirus-vector vaccines—to all COVID-19 vaccines, omits the extreme rarity of events, and overstates the certainty of causation.

Overall validity: 15%

1. A systematic review of cases of CNS demyelination following COVID-19 vaccination - PMC
2. The association between SARS-CoV-2 vaccines and ... - PMC
3. Medicinal product no longer authorised - EMA
4. Overview of transverse myelitis after COVID-19 vaccination
5. Causal Association on the Development of Transverse ...
6. Do Vaccines Cause Transverse Myelitis?
7. The association between acute transverse myelitis and COVID‐19 vaccination in Korea: Self‐controlled case series study