How much do we know about long-term side effects and long-term effects of vaccinations?
Leonie Feuerbach
Editor in Frankfurter Allgemeine Magazin.
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In rare cases, vaccinations lead to side effects over a long period of time, sometimes even for a lifetime.
For example, vaccinations against swine flu did indeed lead to narcolepsy on very rare occasions, and this sleeping sickness can be treated but not cured.
The vaccination reaction was so rare that it did not appear in the clinical trial, but only after the vaccination campaign had started.
Then, however, it was noticed after weeks or months - not years.
Possible long-term side effects should also be known in the case of corona vaccinations.
Is the risk of side effects of the vaccination higher than that of a severe corona course?
No.
Even with a low incidence, the vaccination of 100,000 people between the ages of 40 and 49 prevents almost six admissions to the intensive care unit because of a severe corona course.
On the other hand there are 0.5 cases of severe side effects of the vaccination.
In people between 60 and 69, there are even 14 admissions versus 0.2 cases of severe side effects.
Why could the corona vaccines be developed so quickly?
There are several reasons for this.
Researchers were able to draw on their knowledge of other coronaviruses, and a lot of money was made available by states and international organizations.
More important than the duration of a vaccine study, however, is its scope.
And BioNTech / Pfizer's vaccine was tested on 40,000 people prior to approval;
that's more than most other vaccine studies.
Is the rolling review process questionable?
No.
The fact that the approval authorities received data from the vaccine manufacturer during the development phase does not mean that the hurdles for approval have been lowered: Vaccines are only approved if their quality, safety and effectiveness have been proven.
It was also the case before Corona that further studies were carried out after approval.
Is the distrust of the pharmaceutical industry justified?
Pharmaceutical companies are not foundations or non-profit organizations, they operate economically.
Nevertheless, the mistrust towards them, especially when it comes to vaccines, is only partially understandable.
Because the corporations make a much higher turnover with drugs than with vaccinations - chronically ill people sometimes have to take drugs for life, and vaccinations are sometimes only given once.
According to the Robert Koch Institute, of the 194 billion euros that statutory health insurers spent in 2014, 33 billion euros went to drugs, which corresponds to 17 percent, and just a little more than a billion euros to vaccines - that is 0.65 percent .
At the same time, vaccine development is more complicated and therefore more expensive than drug development.
Why are there hardly any voices critical of the vaccination in politics and the media?
The fact that experts do not generally speak out against corona vaccinations can easily be explained: Because the effectiveness of the vaccines has been proven and at the same time it is a potentially fatal disease for which there are currently no drugs, there are simply no serious reasons for this.
The accusation of unbalanced reporting does not apply either: if there were no more than five percent of the population opposed to vaccinations, it would not be balanced to have an opponent of vaccinations argue with a supporter on a talk show.
Do diseases stimulate the immune system?
Our immune system is not only stimulated by the fact that it suffers from an illness, but above all by the fact that it comes into contact with numerous microorganisms every day.
These include many pathogens against which we are not vaccinated.
But a vaccination, which mimics an infection, is also a stimulus for our immune system.
Doesn't the eradication of diseases come from vaccinations?
It is true that improved hygiene and nutrition also help to reduce disease.
However, this does not apply to the same extent as with vaccinations - and not for diseases that are transmitted from person to person and not, for example, via contaminated water.