Are we forever spike protein factories?

A new pre-print has anti-vaxxers convinced that people who got the COVID vaccine may have lingering spike proteins for years, which could weaken the immune system and lead to long-term health problems.

This paper, which hasn’t been reviewed by experts yet, has been used by people spreading misinformation to claim that the COVID vaccine is dangerous. However, the study doesn’t say or conclude what they think it does.

The study looks at post-vaccination syndrome (PVS) after COVID vaccination, but there are several issues that make it difficult to draw strong conclusions. First, it only included 42 people who reported health problems after vaccination and 22 healthy vaccinated people. That’s a very small group, and because participants volunteered, the study could be biased. Asking the volunteers to recall and report their own symptoms is another way the study could be biased. There was also no unvaccinated control group to compare results.

The study found a link between vaccination and immune changes, but that doesn’t mean the vaccine caused them. Many of the people in the study had already had COVID, which is known to affect the immune system. This means the changes seen might have been caused by the virus, not the vaccine.

The study found spike protein in the blood of some people up to two years after vaccination.  However, this only happened in a few people, and similar results have been found in those with Long COVID.

Overall, while the study raises questions, it does not prove that COVID-19 vaccines cause serious immune problems. It also doesn’t clearly separate post-vaccination syndrome from long-term COVID-19. Much more research is needed before making strong claims like this.