I used to never get hives, and then I started getting hives out of the blue, years before covid was ever a thing.
This is just a thing that happens to some people - look up "chronic idiopathic urticaria". 20 percent of the population, on quick google.
I'm saying that the hives may have been caused by the covid booster, maybe not, you need actual aggregate statistics on the population to make any causal claims.
Hives is listed as a side effect for the vaccines. I never had it before and got hives a week after my booster shot. Although I'm not 100% certain, I believe there is a very high likelihood the booster caused it. Apparently many on Reddit experienced the same thing if you search for hives in the COVID subreddits. My friend got hives after her second shot and still needs to use Benadryl after 6 months.
I've had chronic idiopathic urticaria for years, to varying degrees. Hives are a common side effect to many things (which sucks, because it's such an incredibly aggravating symptom).
It's possible the vaccine is the cause of yours, and the timing makes sense, but it can happen entirely randomly, and that's the case for at least some people who started experiencing hives alongside their shot.
I couldn't stand the drowsy effect from Benadryl. Your friend might want to give Fexofenadine (Allegra / Allerfex) a try, it's just as effective for me and doesn't result in that "head empty" feeling. Loratadine (Claritin) might also work. Costco sells both in bulk generic quantities and they're cheap compared to the branded stuff.
I'm no doctor but I think it totally stands to reason. Hives are a result of inflammation which is caused by (among other things) an immune system response which is what you want a vaccine to do.
Pretty irresponsible of them to assume that themselves and their friends anecdotally got hives from a vaccine and post it on the internet. Hives can be caused by almost anything your body doesn't like. Without evidence other than anecdotes, they're alluding to a cause and effect relationship during a pandemic where the world is struggling to vaccinate everyone due to misinformation like this. This is no different from Nicki Minaj tweeting that her cousin's friend's balls swelled up after taking the vaccine.
Shouldn't expect much more from an account that was created less than a half hour ago to post vaccine misinformation.
