In Germany, the attention to late effects of the corona vaccination is evidently pronounced. In particular, chronic exhaustion, which is mentioned as the main feature of a post-vac syndrome but is medically controversial, receives a lot of attention. The current safety report by the Paul Ehrlich Institute (PEI) lists 472 corresponding “events in connection with a vaccination against Covid-19”, which, given the almost 183 million vaccinations in Germany by the end of June, are extremely few. According to the PEI, the reports came “mostly from affected patients”. The term post-vac syndrome includes “health disorders at different intervals after the Covid-19 vaccination”, which are similar to Long Covid as chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) and heart palpitations after getting up or while standing (postural tachycardia). be specified. The PEI also found no increase in menstrual cycle disturbances and seizures after vaccination.
The total number of suspected post-vac reports that doctors and pharmacists are obliged to submit, but which can also be submitted by those affected and their relatives, is very small. Compared to reports from other countries, however, Germany is disproportionately represented, as the evaluation of the side effect database of the European Medicines Agency shows. Accordingly, “54.6 percent of the reports from the European Economic Area and 34.8 percent of international reports come from Germany,” the PEI reports. “Since Germany has not carried out 55 percent of the vaccinations in the European Economic Area, it can be assumed that there will be a disproportionately high level of reporting in Germany.” The European economic area has 520 million inhabitants; With 83 million inhabitants, Germany accounts for around 16 percent of this. The PEI therefore does not rule out a “reporting bias” for Germany, i.e. a falsified and distorted presentation in which the frequency of the post-vac syndrome is overemphasized.
The fact that there are more cases of fatigue syndrome is probably due to corona infections
“In view of the spontaneous reports, no signal can currently be detected for persistent symptoms associated with fatigue after the Covid 19 vaccination, even in an international context,” is the conclusion of the PEI. The federal institute responsible for vaccines is also skeptical about individual findings with supposedly elevated autoantibodies: “It is often questionable whether these are pathological autoantibodies.” In June, Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach said in a video (“KarlText”) about Post Vac that “this has to be taken seriously, it shouldn’t be swept under the carpet”. Although Lauterbach emphasized several times in the two-minute video that Post Vac is extremely rare and less severe than the possible consequences of an infection, activists took the statement as confirmation of their massive complaints.
The PEI also analyzed the diagnoses upon discharge from the hospital. The main diagnosis of chronic fatigue (CFS) has increased from 1407 cases in 2019 to 2221 cases in 2021. However, the increase is probably due to a previous infection with Sars-CoV-2, because this secondary diagnosis, which did not exist in 2019, occurred in 703 cases in 2021. The increase in the diagnosis of CFS would therefore be due to the infection and not to the vaccination.
“The Germans are known for questioning everything; that’s not a bad thing in itself, it’s shown by achievements like DIN and TÜV,” says virologist Ulrike Protzer from the Technical University of Munich. “Among the post-vac reports circulating on the Internet, however, there is a lot of misinformation, some of which is being spread from Russia, as communications specialists have proven.” There are economic and political interests that confuse people. After all, misinformation is a weapon, according to Protzer, and in countries with poorer vaccines it is also important to be in good shape after the crisis.
“The fact that the vaccines are safe and that we have a sensitive system is shown by the follow-up in large cohorts internationally and especially in Germany. This allows us to react quickly and investigate suspected cases meticulously,” says Protzer. “The fact that there are disproportionately many reports about Post Vac in Germany indicates that not everything is being swept under the table, as is often claimed.”