Are spike proteins attacking your brain?

Anti-vaxxers suggest that COVID vaccines significantly increase the risk of various health issues, including strokes, neurological conditions, mental health disorders, and cognitive impairments, allegedly due to toxic spike protein accumulation from mRNA technology.

These claims are based on three articles.

The articles by Mörz and Mikami et al. talk about elderly men, one with Parkison’s disease, who died 3 and 10 weeks after their respective COVID vaccines. In both cases, spike protein was found in their brains, with no accompanying nucleocapsid protein, indicating, to the researchers, that no COVID infection occurred. Importantly, case studies are among the weakest forms of evidence on the hierarchy of evidence. While these studies point out problems in these two cases, they don’t prove there are widespread risks or link the vaccine to the many health problems mentioned in the claims.

The article by Rong, et al, discusses how the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein can remain in the brain and nearby areas in mice, where it is linked to inflammation, brain damage, and behavior changes. However, the study shows that vaccination reduced the amount of spike protein compared to what happens with an infection, suggesting vaccines have a protective effect. The findings are more about understanding the long-term effects of COVID infection and do not prove that vaccines cause the specific health problems, like strokes or memory loss, mentioned in the claims.

Previous bioaccumulation studies have shown that although mRNA did enter various tissues, including the brain, it was at very low levels for a very limited amount of time. Likewise, other studies have also documented the long-term neurological impact of COVID infection.

None of these papers supports the broad claims of significantly increased risks of strokes, neurological disorders, or mental health conditions following COVID vaccination.