Anti-vaxxers used a Texas woman's skin condition on her feet to mislead the public on the risks associated with COVID-19 vaccines.
Patricia Chandler participated in a trial for the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine and began feeling pain in her left foot by late October. She later noticed her sole swelled with a huge blister and eventually, her other foot developed the same condition, making it difficult for her to walk.
After visiting multiple doctors, she was given several possible causes including a bad reaction to a medicine. Having just received a second injection five days before the blisters appeared, Chandler assumed the vaccine trial was the cause and set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for her medical costs.
"My cousin Patricia, who lives in Texas, was a volunteer in a COVID-19 vaccine study recently and has had a severe adverse reaction; initially it was thought by multiple doctors to have been caused by the injection but now the cause is unclear," the page read. "She has not been able to walk or go to work for almost 4 weeks now because of huge bleeding sores on her feet."
Her condition ended up going viral and was picked up by various anti-vaccine and conspiracy theory websites. After Chandler's story spread globally, her doctors and Pfizer looked into her participation in the trial and she was informed that she received a saline placebo, which would not cause her condition -- therefore, her skin condition was unrelated to the injections.
"I have to assume some culpability for putting my story out there," Chandler said. "It's social media. You share it for one second and it can get picked up and go viral...My injury had nothing to do with the vaccine. My bad. People make mistakes."
As a result of her revelation, Chandler received backlash from the same community that supported her when it was assumed the vaccine caused her condition. Chandler said she was called "an idiot, a drug addict, a convicted felon, con artist, a person of questionable character and worse," which caused her to disable her social media profiles.
After briefly removing the page, GoFundMe has offered a refund to anyone who donated money under the false impression that her condition was caused by the vaccine trial. According to an update on the page, Chandler is still suffering from her skin condition.
"Although her dermatologist, emergency room physicians, and a vascular surgeon have told her this was caused by the injection, this apparently is not the case," the update read. "She will be undergoing further testing and seeing new specialists to get the correct diagnosis and cause."
Look above for more images of Patricia Chandler's skin condition.
Source: New York Post
