A Man Received 217 COVID-19 Vaccines
A few years ago, a man in Germany’s story hit the news after he stated he would keep getting vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to him, he would receive these shots to sell proof of vaccination cards.
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His goal was to sell these cards to those who were unvaccinated and didn’t want to get the COVID-19 shot.
Scientists Hear This Intriguing Story
Scientists in Germany first heard about this man by reading the news. Normally, they don’t recommend people getting this overload of vaccines. However, they were intrigued to discover more about the man’s story.
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So, interested in learning about how his health was, they reached out to him. He agreed to allow researchers to study his immune system to see how it was working.
Hypervaccination
Researchers studying this man have claimed they do not, in any way, encourage anybody to get many unnecessary vaccinations. They have said they “do not endorse hypervaccination as a strategy to enhance adaptive immunity.”
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However, as this man had already gotten more than two hundred vaccines, they were interested to see how this mass amount of vaccines might be impacting his body.
Theories on Hypervaccination
There have been many theories about what would happen to a human body if it received too many vaccinations. Some scientists believe that too many injections could trigger an excessive immune reaction.
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Others theorize that over-vaccination could result in making immune cells fatigued — and therefore less responsive to fighting a potential virus.
The Amount and Types of Vaccines
Scientists first took a look at exactly how many shots this man received. According to official records, he got at least 130 vaccines in two and a half years. Of these, he had eight different kinds of vaccine types. For the most part, a majority of these jabs were received in just nine months.
Source: CDC/Unsplash
Once they officially kept a record of the amount and types of vaccines this man had gotten, they then took a look at his immune system. Very quickly, they became surprised.
A Look at an Immune System
Researchers discovered after assessment that this man’s immune system was fine. It was fully functional. There was nothing amiss with his system, and he didn’t seem to have any symptoms from such a high amount of vaccines.
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Immunologist Kilian Schober of the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU) explained this interesting analysis. “The observation that no noticeable side effects were triggered in spite of this extraordinary hypervaccination indicates that the drugs have a good degree of tolerability,” Schober said.
His Immune System’s Response
Scientists then looked at how his immune system would theoretically respond to a COVID-19 virus. One prevalent theory on hypervaccination is that it would mess up one’s immune system — and leave it unable to fight the virus it’s supposed to.
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However, researchers realized this man had a large amount of T-effector cells. These cells help promote an immune system’s response to the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
No Fatigued Cells
Scientists then checked to see if the man had fatigued cells — another common theory associated with over-vaccinating. Again, they found this theory wasn’t true. They couldn’t find any fatigued cells.
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“Overall,” immunologist and leading author Katarina Kocher explained, “we did not find any indication for a weaker immune response, rather the contrary.”
Another Vaccine Jab
To further test his immune system’s response to these many vaccinations, researchers gave the man another shot. This time, however, they were there to see what happened to his body upon receiving one more jab.
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Scientists discovered his antibodies that fight SARS-CoV-2 increased significantly. Clearly, this goes against the many theories that analysts had when discussing over-vaccination.
Scientists Warn Against Hypervaccination
Even though this man received more than 200 COVID-19 vaccinations and seems to have no severe symptoms from it, scientists are warning against others doing the same thing.
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The vaccine can still have a positive effect on one’s body, even in excess, as this man’s case proves. However, scientists warn that this extreme case does not mean everybody will fare as this man has if they also get many shots.
What Researchers Now Know
Though this extreme case isn’t something scientists necessarily want to become the norm, they have learned quite a bit from this over-vaccinated man. It has allowed researchers to understand how a body reacts — both positively and negatively — after many shots.
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However, they still believe a small amount of COVID-19 vaccines is the best policy. “Current research indicates that a three-dose vaccination, coupled with regular top-up vaccines for vulnerable groups, remains the favored approach,” Schober stated.