An article in Acupuncture Today suggests that cupping therapy may improve the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines. Acupuncture Today bases this assumption on this research article. According the Acupuncture Today, researched performed on animals showed that “when a DNA based COVID vaccine was administered to animals with 30 seconds of suction technique at the injection site , a technique similar to Chinese cupping, the immune response was 100 times that of the vaccine alone”. Given this information, the article goes on to state that acupuncturists who employ cupping therapy can play a role in improving efficacy of COVID vaccines , and thus, “reduce COVID-related hospitilizations and deaths.”
However, is this a correct assertion? I would say the answer is no for several reasons. First, this study is done on rats. Clinical trials should be carried out to see if an immune response truly exists in humans. Second, the study used a suction pressure of 65 kPa(kilopascal). I don’t know of an Chinese cupping device that can deliver a specific suction power. Thus, it would be hard for acupuncturists to replicate the specific suction pressure used in the study. Third, the study used a DNA based COVID vaccine whereas the current COVID-19 vaccines are mRNA based. While “both DNA and RNA vaccines instruct cells in your body to produce a protein that induces an immune response”, there isn’t enough information to deduce that cupping therapy would increase antibody production in those people receiving COVID-19 mRNA vaccines.
Thus, while cupping therapy has documented benefits for musculoskeletal issues, for the reasons outlined above, it is wrong to suggest that cupping therapy can increase the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines.