Central Retinal Vein Occlusion Following the First Dose of COVID Vaccine

The reports of vascular adverse events in the eye following COVID-19 vaccination are infrequent. We report the case of a healthy male who developed central retinal vein occlusion in his left eye three days following administration of the first dose of Covishield vaccine. As the underlying systemic and ocular risk factors were absent and laboratory investigations were normal, vein occlusion appeared to probably result from the vaccine. The patient developed retinal hemorrhages and non-perfusion ischemic areas all over the fundus. The macular edema was reduced with intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide, but the visual gain was not much, which appears to be due to the time lag in his initial presentation to the Ophthalmology Department. A close watch should be kept for ophthalmic adverse events to have an early intervention.