Protecting oneself from SARS-CoV-2 with vaccines and boosters is a good thing. But, when it comes to vaccines, could there be “too much of a good thing?”
If anyone would know, it would be a 62-year-old “hypervaccinated” man from Magdeburg, Germany who received at least 134 vaccinations—possibility 217—against SARS-CoV-2 within a period of 29 months.
After finding out about the man via a newspaper article, researchers from Friedrich-Alexander-Universität in Germany examined him, finding a stronger-than-expected immune system and increasing SARS-CoV-2 antibodies.
Hypervaccination: For Better or Worse?
Hypervaccination has not been extensively studied. Some scientists were of the opinion that immune cells would become less effective after becoming used to the antigens. Others thought it could negatively impact the immune system’s effectiveness against other pathogens.
In the case of the German man, researchers found both of those to be untrue. After researchers read about the man in the newspaper, they contacted him and invited him to undergo various tests, which he was very interested in.
In the course of the examination, the man insisted on receiving another SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, what he claimed to be his 217th. The team found documentation for at least 134 vaccinations.
The researchers took blood samples when the man received the latest vaccination, and were even able to compare them to the man’s previous blood samples, which had been taken in a healthcare setting before the vaccinations and frozen.
The study results, published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, showed that the individual has large numbers of T-effector cells against SARS-CoV-2. These act as the body’s own soldiers that fight against the virus. The man even had more of these compared with the control group of people who have received three vaccinations. The researchers did not perceive any fatigue in these effector cells—they were similarly effective as those in the control group who had received the normal number of vaccinations.
The team also recorded no negative effects on the man’s memory T cells.
“The number of memory cells was just as high in our test case as in the control group,” said Katharina Kocher, one of the leading authors of the study. “Overall, we did not find any indication for a weaker immune response, rather the contrary.”
Even the 217th vaccination the man received during the study still had an effect: the number of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 increased significantly as a result, according to the researchers’ observations.
Further tests indicate that there is no change to the immune system’s effectiveness against pathogens that are not SARS-CoV-2.
“The observation that no noticeable side effects were triggered in spite of this extraordinary hypervaccination indicates that the drugs have a good degree of tolerability,” said study author Kilian Schober.
The study authors stress that this is one individual case, and although the results are positive, the conclusions reached are not sufficient to make recommendations for the general public.
“Current research indicates that a three-dose vaccination, coupled with regular top-up vaccines for vulnerable groups, remains the favored approach. There is no indication that more vaccines are required,” said Schober.