Could COVID-19 vaccine side effects show up years later?

Now humanity is divided into three groups: some are voluntarily vaccinated, others refuse vaccinations, and still others are vaccinated for travel and work. Those who do not want to receive the vaccine argue this is the long-term consequences of vaccination. DW found out and told if there really is such a risk.

One in four people in Germany is still not vaccinated against coronavirus. The reason for the refusal is the fear of the long-term negative consequences of the SARS-CoV-2 vaccines.

In rare cases, side effects have been identified. Skeptics use them as arguments. There are dozens of posts on Twitter on this topic.

How to distinguish pvaccine reactions, side effects и long term consequences

Reactions for the vaccine appear immediately after the injection or are observed for several days. If we are talking about the COVID-19 vaccine, then the reaction manifests itself in the form of pain at the injection site or headache.

Usually such reactions are evidence of the effectiveness of the vaccine: in this way it “teaches” the body to fight the infection.

Side effects are “a stronger and more undesirable reaction of the body to vaccines that goes beyond the standard reactions,” explains Christine Falk, president of the German Society for Immunology and professor at the Institute for Transplant Immunology in Hannover, in an interview with DW. Side effects can have negative health effects. After vaccination against COVID-19, sinus vein thrombosis or inflammation of the heart muscle has already been observed.

“Long-term effects” cannot be separated from vaccine-related side effects. That is, these are side effects, but they are detected some time after the administration of the drug, explains immunologist Carsten Watzl. For example, if a side effect occurs in only one in a million people, then the link between the illness and the vaccine becomes evident only after the vaccine has been administered to several million people.

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At the moment, more than 7,2 billion doses against COVID-19 have been withdrawn in the world, which makes it possible to detect side effects in a short time. This is a clear advantage of COVID-19 drugs.

According to immunologist Reinhold Förster, a huge number of people have been vaccinated, most of them many months ago. This allows unwanted reactions to be detected very quickly.

Why the risk of thrombosis with AstraZeneca vaccination was not reported during the research phase

The risk of thrombosis after the administration of the drug AstraZeneca became known after the mass vaccination.

There are reports of isolated cases of thrombosis of the brain or sinus veins in people who were vaccinated with this vaccine. The question arose why the creators of the vaccine did not report this even at the stage of testing the drug.

“The problem is that clinical trials only reveal the common side effects of the vaccine,” explains immunologist Christine Falk. “The rarer ones are almost impossible to find because there are not many people involved in the study.” The increased risk of blood clots became known only after the registration of the drug and mass vaccination.

According to Australian Ministry of Health, per million patients vaccinated with AstraZeneca, thrombosis occurs in a maximum of 4-6 people. The German Federal Office for Health Education said most cases of thrombosis usually occurred two to three weeks after vaccination, mostly in people under the age of 60. Therefore, from April 1, 2021, vaccinations with the AstraZeneca vaccine in Germany are only given to people over 60 years old.

How long does it take for the vaccine to be excreted from the body?

The EU has approved two different types of vaccines.

The first is mRNA vaccines from BioNTech / Pfizer and Moderna, the second is vector vaccines from AstraZeneca or Johnson & Johnson. Christine Falk says that the complete elimination of the vaccine from the body occurs in a few days and weeks.

MRNA vaccines contain a blueprint for a specific component of the coronavirus. After their introduction, the immune system begins to produce antibodies to neutralize the pathogen. After that, the cells completely destroy the mRNA and get rid of it. This prevents the provocation of any late long-term effects. “There is no evidence that later reactions can occur,” says immunologist Reinhold Förster.

Vector vaccines, also containing a blueprint for a specific portion of the virus, stimulate the immune system to produce antibodies. This is achieved using a modified virus (vector), with which the genetic code of the antigen is delivered to human cells. After that, the vector is destroyed. Therefore, the long-term consequences after the introduction of this vaccine are also out of the question, explains the Federal Office for Health Education.

If we talk about vaccines against swine flu, then really: some time after vaccination with Pandemrix, some patients showed a very rare consequence: narcolepsy, or sleeping sickness. But experts have established a link between vaccination and this disease only after a sufficient number of vaccinated.

“The fact that this side effect was found at all is not due to the fact that vaccinated people had to be watched especially for a long time until it manifested itself, but rather to the large number of those who received the vaccine,” explains immunologist Förster in an interview. Very rare side effects are only known when a sufficient number of people are vaccinated.

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The side effect after Pandemrix occurred sporadically over several weeks in children between the ages of 4 and 19. Per 100 doses in children and adolescents, there are 000 to 2 cases of narcolepsy. The drug is currently no longer used in the EU.

Possible side effects from vaccines against COVID-19

A well-known but rare side effect is myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle). A second rare side effect is pericarditis (inflammation of the pericardium, or pericardial sac). The German Paul Ehrlich Institute indicates them in its report. It should be noted that the causal relationship has not yet been finally established. The Permanent Vaccination Commission (Stiko) on November 10 recommended that people under 30 years of age be vaccinated against coronavirus in Germany only with the BioNTech / Pfizer vaccine. According to the latest data, the threat of this vaccine to young people under 30 with heart complications is less than that of Moderna.

Other complications after vaccination include:

• anaphylactic reactions
• sinus vein thrombosis
• Guillain-Barré syndrome
• thrombocytopenia or immune thrombocytopenia.

More information on side effects and their frequency can be found in the monthly updated coronavirus vaccine safety reports on the website Paul Ehrlich Institute.

Can whether the negative effect of vaccines will manifest itself after years

Of course, there are adverse reactions to coronavirus vaccines. But it is important to realize: the risk of manifestation of consequences after years is zero. The body reacts to the vaccine immediately after the drug is administered. In the worst case, the reaction is observed after several weeks. In such a situation, more serious unwanted effects may occur or develop.

The long-term effects, which first appear years after vaccination with other drugs, are also not known. This is due to the fact that after a short time they are cleaved by cells and excreted from the body. That is, they cannot cause any subsequent reactions.