A man who claims to have received more than 200 vaccinations against COVID-19 has been tested by researchers at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) and Universitätsklinikum Erlangen with results published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases. After learning of his remarkable case through newspaper reports the team invited the man to participate in an investigation into the effects of “hypervaccination” on his immune system, finding that it is “fully functional”. However, the researchers emphasise that this strategy is not recommended.
An unusual case
The study reports on a 62-year-old male from Magdeburg, Germany, who “deliberately and for private reasons” received 217 vaccinations against SARS-CoV-2 within 29 months. These vaccinations occurred outside a clinical study context and “against national vaccination recommendations”.
Evidence for 130 vaccinations across a 9-month period was gathered by the public prosecutor in Magdeburg, who opened an investigation into allegations of fraud; however, criminal charges were not filed. 108 vaccinations are individually recorded and partly overlap with the total of 130 prosecutor-confirmed vaccinations.
Called for testing
The researchers were intrigued by reports of this case and submitted an analysis proposal to the man through the public prosecutor. The man “actively and voluntarily consented to provide medical information and donate blood and saliva”. Privatdozent Dr Kilian Schober commented that their volunteer was “very interested” in participating in the study to understand the consequences of such extreme hypervaccination.
Dr Schober explains that for some chronic infections like HIV or Hepatitis B, there is an “indication” that T-cells can “become fatigued” and release “fewer pro-inflammatory messenger substances”. Thus, the immune system is weakened and can’t attack the pathogen effectively.
The study used the results of “various blood tests” over recent years.
“He gave us his permission to assess the results of these analyses. In some cases, samples had been frozen, and we were able to investigate these ourselves. We were also able to take blood samples ourselves when the man received a further vaccination during the study at his own insistence. We were able to use these samples to determine exactly how the immune system reacts to the vaccination.”
The results indicate “large numbers of T-effector cells” against SARS-CoV-2, even more than the control group of participants who had received three vaccinations. Notably, the team did not identify fatigue in these cells; they were “similarly effective” as those in the control group. They also explored the memory T cells, finding that the number was “just as high in our test case as in the control group” according to Katharina Kocher, a lead author.
“Overall, we did not find any indication for a weaker immune response, rather the contrary.”
Alongside the investigations related to SARS-CoV-2, further tests revealed “no change” to the immune system’s effectiveness against other pathogens, suggesting that hypervaccination did not damage the immune system. Dr Schober was particularly intrigued by the variety of vaccines received: a total of eight different vaccines.
“The observations that no noticeable side effects were triggered in spite of this extraordinary hypervaccination indicates that the drugs have a good degree of tolerability.”
Not an endorsed approach
The paper concludes with a reflection that, while the hypervaccination appeared not to harm the man, instead preventing signs of breakthrough infections, the researchers “do not endorse hypervaccination as a strategy to enhance adaptive immunity”.
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