“ZDF Magazin Royale”
Virologist Brinkmann clears up Böhmermann’s assumption of vaccination skeptics
Virologist Melanie Brinkmann appeared in Jan Böhmermann’s satirical show
© Screenshot/ZDF
The virologist Melanie Brinkmann is a well-known corona expert. On Friday evening she was a guest at Jan Böhmermann – and informed about the immune system and vaccines. She had to deal with a troublemaker.
The Braunschweig virologist Melanie Brinkmann regularly comments on current topics in the corona pandemic. On Friday evening, Brinkmann, who is also on the federal government’s Corona expert committee, was a guest on Jan Böhmermann’s satirical show. There she spoke about the basic mode of action of the immune system and vaccines. At the same time, she cleared up an assumption that is particularly widespread among people who are skeptical about vaccinations – namely that infections train the immune system.
Brinkmann sat in the studio and explained details about viruses and vaccines in the “Masterclass Royale Immune System”. She was repeatedly interrupted by an actor who mimed a skeptical studio guest and questioned the virologist’s statements.
“Sorry, I thought we didn’t have an audience here. Who let you in now?” asked Jan Böhmermann after the first heckling in the direction of the supposed studio guest. “I won’t let myself be deprived of the freedom to speak my mind in TV studios,” said the troublemaker.
Brinkmann explained that viruses can weaken and trick the immune system, giving themselves more time to multiply in the body. The immune system then has to deal with a “much stronger opponent”. When trying to get rid of the virus, the immune reaction could ultimately derail – cells would be destroyed and organs affected.
With a vaccination, on the other hand, the body’s immune response does not get out of control, says Brinkmann. One of the reasons for this is that the vaccine does not weaken the immune response and cannot multiply in the body like a real virus. Nevertheless, the immune memory learns who to fight in an emergency and strikes before the virus can begin its triumphal march. “If you want to train your immune system, you need vaccines,” says Brinkmann.
Skeptic bites into steak
The Berlin virologist Christian Drosten had already criticized the assumption that an infection trains the immune system on Twitter at the end of December. Anyone who believes that must consequently also believe that a steak trains digestion, Drosten wrote at the time.
Böhmermann alluded to this. The skeptical studio guest unpacked a raw steak, bit into it and defiantly explained: “Viruses train my immune system in the same way a delicious steak trains my intestines. That’s what Drosten says, by the way.”
Böhmermann finally broke off the lecture and the actor in the empty audience ranks was led out of the studio. “Sorry,” he said in the direction of Brinkmann. “Some people can no longer be reached with arguments.”
The full program is available here in the ZDF media library.