Europe

Man got 217 Covid jabs and is none the worse, study finds

German researchers say case suggests vaccines are low in side-effects for most people

A preliminary case was brought against the man for running up a jab tab of up to €4,300 in the eastern German state of Magdeburg. Photograph: Kay Nietfeld/DPA/Bloomberg

Derek Scally in Berlin
Wed Mar 6 2024 - 14:18

As jab tabs go, this one is hard to beat. German doctors have studied a 62-year-old man who says he has been vaccinated 217 times against Covid-19 and – alert the vaccine sceptics – is in rude health.

The medical wonder came to light in the eastern state of Magdeburg, where reports of the man in local media attracted the attention of Bavarian university researchers.

They invited the man to come for blood and saliva tests – and to bring his paperwork. He has documentation proving 134 vaccines over nine months – with eight separate vaccines – but insists the true figure is 217 over 29 months.

“Sars-CoV-2 hypervaccination did not lead to adverse events,” wrote the authors of the study, published in the Lancet medical journal. They suggested this indicates just how safe and low in side-effects the vaccines are with most people. But they added that this was an individual case, with no recommendations that can be extrapolated for the wider population.

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“While we found no sign of Sars-CoV-2 breakthrough infections ... it cannot be clarified whether this is causally related to the hypervaccination regimen,” they added. “Importantly, we do not endorse hypervaccination as a strategy to enhance adaptive immunity.”

The man did not have any special reason for seeking hundreds of vaccinations, the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg researchers said, nor did he show any ill effects – apart from a spectacularly high antibodies count in his blood.

Official advice is for healthy adults up to 60 to have three Covid-19 shots, with additional booster shots for older people and at-risk groups.

Given the cost of each vaccine to the taxpayer – roughly €20 a shot – a preliminary case was brought against the man for running up a jab tab of up to €4,300 rather than €60.

The state prosecutor in Magdeburg said the man was able to secure so many jabs by visiting different vaccination stations in his region and securing separate documentation each time.

The case has been dropped, however, because the man in question is of limited mental capacity and incapable of standing trial.

Derek Scally

Derek Scally

Derek Scally is an Irish Times journalist based in Berlin

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