Research on vaccine side effects
Can the Corona Vaccination Cause Long Covid?
Under the radar: For many months, science reporter Bernhard Albrecht researched possible vaccination side effects
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The Paul Ehrlich Institute is planning an investigation after reports of mysterious symptoms after the corona vaccinations. But studies are already showing that vaccinations also protect against Long Covid.
More than four billion people worldwide have been vaccinated against Sars-CoV-2 in the past 14 months. Numerous authorities monitor security. Is it conceivable that rare side effects are still going under the radar of detection? Science reporter Bernhard Albrecht pursued this question for many months. The result of this research appears on Thursday as a cover story in the weekly magazine star.
“We can no longer leave the critical examination of this topic to the vaccine skeptics,” says Albrecht, who himself is a medical doctor. Too many anecdotes are floating around. Also the star letters, e-mails and phone calls reach people who are disturbed by stories from their circle of acquaintances. For Albrecht, a colleague’s case was the trigger for further investigations. She told him about persistent numbness in the fingertips and left foot that had appeared shortly after the vaccination. In the information sheet, there was no reference to this symptom as a possible side effect. “I immediately noticed because I used to work as a doctor in neurology,” says Albrecht. In the safety reports of the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut there are no indications of numbness or other abnormal sensations.
Who has the damage? Millions of people have been vaccinated, the number of lasting damages is small. By mid-January 2022, 1,372 applications for damage caused by corona vaccines had been submitted to the pension offices. Anyone whose damage has lasted for at least six months is entitled to this. That is why these figures refer to vaccinations until the end of July 2021 © Ourworldindata, countries’ health ministries, laws on the Internet
In the course of his research, Albrecht came across people who had been suffering from neurological side effects for many months after Covid vaccinations. The 30-year-old biology student Jana Ruhrländer experienced numbness and visual disturbances, stroke-like symptoms and muscle weakness a few days after the first spade in July 2021, she was constantly thirsty and had to urinate a lot. She is still chronically tired, can’t concentrate and her heart starts racing as soon as she gets up from the chair, she says.
Several auto-antibodies circulate in Ruhrländer’s blood, which scientists have linked to Long Covid. So can Long Covid not only be triggered by the disease, but also by the vaccination? Scientists from the USA and South Africa are also reporting similar cases, around 50 in total, as the journal Science recently reported. Cases have also been reported to the Paul Ehrlich Institute. One has “started with appropriate planning for a methodologically robust investigation,” according to the statement for the star.
How many vaccination damages are recognised? The pension offices decide individually whether damage is actually due to the vaccine. There have been a total of 1372 applications so far. According to the Infection Protection Act, anyone who suffers damage from an officially recommended vaccination is entitled to state compensation. Several applications can relate to one person, the decision takes time © State ministries of health, laws on the Internet
What complicates things: Long Covid is vaguely defined, can lead to a variety of ailments, and it is not uncommon for doctors to find no physical findings. A new study from Israel also suggests that vaccinated people are much less likely to be plagued by Long Covid symptoms after infection than unvaccinated people. The neuroimmunologist Harald Prüß from the Charité says: “The risk of developing Long Covid after vaccination is probably negligible compared to the disease.”
starReporter Albrecht draws a sobering conclusion from his research: “Especially in Germany, the recording of side effects is inadequate. Some things go under the radar. Those who suffer are those whose symptoms do not appear in the package insert. They are quickly pushed into the psycho corner by doctors. ” Nevertheless, the comparison between possible side effects of the vaccination and complications of the disease clearly shows that a Sars-CoV2 infection is far more dangerous than the vaccination.
This is illustrated by impressive infographics, which were extensively researched by the well-known science journalists Joachim Budde and Edda Grabar and implemented by Bettina Müller. Just one example: out of a million Covid sufferers, 1250 more suffer from acute kidney failure than in a healthy comparison group. On the other hand, there was no increased risk of kidney failure for those who had been vaccinated. This alone shows that vaccinations protect without a doubt from the serious consequences of infections.
More results of star– You can read research on the side effects of the corona vaccinations at sternPlus at www.stern.de/nebeneffekten.