A 62-year-old man from Germany has, against medical advice, been vaccinated 217 times against Covid, doctors report.
Researchers from the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg said they encountered the case through media reports and asked the man to undergo some testing. The man provided fresh blood and saliva samples. The researchers also tested some frozen blood samples of his that had been stored in recent years.
He had received 217 vaccinations in two years and five months, according to the results of the study, published in the journal Lancet.
It was theorized the repeated injections may have affected his immune system, fatiguing the body’s T-cells that fight disease. However, this was not the case.
“Overall, we did not find any indication for a weaker immune response, rather the contrary,” co-lead author Katharina Kocher said in a statement.
“Our test case was vaccinated with a total of eight different vaccines, including different available mRNA vaccines,” researcher Dr Kilian Schober said.
“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.”
No need for “hypervaccination”
However, the scientists noted that the man was an individual case and not necessarily an indication of how a broader population would react to such “hypervaccination”.
They recommended most people continue to follow the recommended three-jab course, with regular top-ups for vulnerable groups.
The researchers said: “Importantly, we do not endorse hyper-vaccination as a strategy to enhance adaptive immunity.”
“Current research indicates that a three-dose vaccination, coupled with regular top-up vaccines for vulnerable groups, remains the favored approach,” they say on the university’s website.
“There is no indication that more vaccines are required.”
Scientists say Covid vaccines are normally given seasonally but some people with a severely weakened immune system may need additional protection at other times – and it will contact those whose NHS record suggests may be eligible.
Covid-19 no longer an emergency
In May 2023 the World Health Organization (WHO) determined that Covid-19 is an established and ongoing health issue but it no longer constitutes a public health emergency of international concern.
WHO highlighted the decreasing trend in Covid-19 deaths, the decline in Covid-19-related hospitalizations and intensive care unit admissions, and the high levels of population immunity to SARS-CoV-2.
“This trend has allowed most countries to return to life as we knew it before Covid-19,” General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press conference in Geneva.
“It’s therefore with great hope that I declared Covid-19 over as a global health emergency,” he said.
COVID-19 was declared a pandemic on 11 March 2020, triggering lockdowns and travel restrictions across the world.
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
