Peripheral facial nerve (Bell) palsy has been reported and widely suggested as a possible adverse effect of the BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech) COVID-19 vaccine.

Israel is currently the leading country in vaccination rates per capita, exclusively using the BNT162b2 vaccine, and all residents of Israel are obligatory members of a national digital health registry system.

These factors enable early analysis of adverse events.

We examine whether the BNT162b2 vaccine is associated with an increased risk of acute-onset peripheral facial nerve palsy.

This case-control study was performed from January 1 to February 28, 2021, at the emergency department of a tertiary referral center in central Israel.

Patients admitted for facial nerve palsy were matched by age, sex, and date of admission with control patients admitted for other reasons.