2023-08-30 14:05:00
On May 5, 2023, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced the end of the pandemic in the world. However, this does not mean that SARS-CoV-2 has disappeared from our lives. The virus continues to mutate, giving rise to new strains that carry health risks. Among the latter are EG.5, also called Eris, found in the US and UK, XBB.1.5, identified earlier this year in Germany, and XBB.1.16, called Arcturus, which caused an outbreak in India in May and is considered the most contagious. of all so far known options.
The latest COVID vaccines developed by BioNTech/Pfizer, Moderna and Novavax are likely to provide protection against newly emerging strains as well. All three companies are currently awaiting approval for their customized vaccines and plan to start shipping them in the coming months. At the same time, the expected boosters have already generated a lot of various kinds of disinformation. DW has checked the most common claims.
Claim 1: Vaccines weaken the immune system
Claim: COVID-19 booster shots weaken the immune system and increase the risk of infection. “There is an absolutely direct relationship: the more vaccinations you have, the more likely you are to get COVID, and the more likely it is to spread,” said Canadian doctor Charles Hoffe in a video posted on Facebook on August 10. German doctor Elke Austenat wrote about weakened immunity after repeated vaccinations on platform X in June 2023.
Factchecking DW: False
The allegations contained in the doctors’ reports are not really new. The study referenced in his video by Hoffe was conducted at the University of Cleveland. It examined the incidence of COVID-19 infection among healthcare workers in Ohio during the peak of the omicron variant wave in 2022. The researchers wanted to find out if the bivalent vaccine, i.e. vaccine adapted to coronavirus variants, from COVID-19. The study summary states: “Among 51,011 working-age Cleveland Clinic staff, the bivalent COVID-19 booster vaccine was 30 percent effective in preventing infection. […]Study author Nabeen Shrestha calls the defense “modest.” However, the study has significant flaws and has not yet been peer-reviewed by independent academic institutions.
Do COVID-19 vaccines weaken the immune system? “No,” says Kavsar Talaat, an assistant professor at the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University. “Our immune system is used to receiving many different stimuli, whether it’s vaccines or exposure to a virus,” says the vaccine researcher. According to her observations, our immune system does not become weaker, but rather stronger, the more often we are exposed to a pathogen. Talaat emphasizes: “Vaccinations protect you, they do not lead to an increase in the risk of any infection.”
This also applies to booster vaccination against COVID-19. At the same time, it should be borne in mind that after the main vaccination, immunity is already quite high, therefore, additional protection after the next dose is not so great – it has a stimulating effect on the immune system, as a result of which the duration of post-vaccination immunity increases. “But the immune system is by no means exhausted, and booster shots improve the immune response,” says Talaat. She advises to do the recommended revaccinations, because after a few months the acquired immunity weakens.
In this case, individual factors should be taken into account. For example, if someone has recently been ill, then his immunity has independently updated as a result of an infection. In this case, revaccination can be waited longer, Talaat believes. Elderly people or people who have previously had diseases, on the contrary, usually have a weaker immune system. It is important for them to regularly maintain immune protection at a high level.
Claim 2: COVID-19 vaccines do not protect against the virus at all
Claim: In one of his posts on Platform X, viewed millions of times by users, American entrepreneur and co-owner of Trending Politics website Colleen Rugg claims: “The Biden administration in the coming weeks will recommend that Americans get another COVID-19 vaccine, despite the fact that previous Vaccines and vaccinations did not protect people from this virus.” He insists previous vaccines have proven ineffective against the coronavirus.
Factchecking DW: False
Experts do not share this generalizing statement. In fact, some people actually became infected with the coronavirus even after vaccination, including the second one. In rare cases, the disease has been fatal. Cases of infection, despite being vaccinated, are called “vaccination breakthroughs.” The reasons why fully vaccinated people get sick, at one time explained Robert Koch Institute(Robert Koch Institute). According to experts, COVID-19 vaccines are highly effective, but they do not provide 100% protection. In addition, an increase in the number of active cases of the disease increases the likelihood of infection and vaccinated people.
The temperature for storing the COVID-19 vaccine is minus 80.5 degrees CelsiusPhoto: ULMER Pressebildagentur/picture alliance
Rafael Mikolajczyk, head of the Institute for Medical Epidemiology, Biometrics and Informatics at the University of Halle, explains that how effectively a vaccine protects a person from covid in a given case is influenced by several factors, such as age and general health, the number previous vaccinations, the interval between them and the time elapsed since the last vaccination.
According to the website “Our World in Data”, to date, only 70.5 percent of the world’s population (about 5.7 billion people) have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine, and so the absolute number of “vaccine breakthroughs” may seem high. However, the decisive factor is that vaccines still protect against serious illness, hospitalization and death. For example, according to American researchpublished in January 2023, BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna vaccines reduce hospitalizations by about 59 percent. Epidemiologist Kavsat Talaat summarizes the effectiveness of vaccines against COVID-19: “In fact, protection against infection is not ideal. That is, you can get covid, you can have a cough, runny nose, fever and pain in the extremities. However, it is unlikely that you will find yourself in hospital or die if you have been vaccinated and revaccinated multiple times.” This position is shared by leading medical organizations and research institutes. The WHO website says: “Since their introduction, COVID-19 vaccines have saved millions of lives around the world.”
Statement 3: The main goal is to make money on the vaccine
Claim: It’s often said on social media that the pharmaceutical industry came up with the vaccine for the sole purpose of making money. “BioNTech is launching a new“ vaccine ”and almost at the same time those who are fanning panic around COVID appear”, “Advertising for the upcoming autumn-winter season is slowly starting to unwind,” they write massively on social networks.
Fact-checking DW: Such statements are misleading
Indeed, the turnover of some COVID-19 vaccine companies has increased dramatically as a result of the pandemic. But we should not forget that the pharmaceutical industry has been continuously growing for 20 years. According to the German statistical agency Statesman, from 2001 to 2022, worldwide drug sales rose from $390 billion to $1.48 trillion. “I won’t deny that vaccines are profitable for the pharmaceutical industry,” says Kavsar Talaat.
In fact, public health authorities will not recommend certain measures or drugs just because the pharmaceutical industry makes money on it. All companies in this area are controlled by regulatory organizations, as well as through independent research. Testing and approval of vaccines is a complex and highly regulated process.
As for the latest vaccines being prepared for release, neither Kavsar Talaat nor Rafael Mikolajczek doubt their timeliness. “A very large part of the population was vaccinated a very long time ago. […] As a result, we have a situation where many people have very low levels of antibodies,” epidemiologist Mikolajczek told DW. Both experts consider revaccination reasonable and not just a money-making scheme for the pharmaceutical industry.
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