A German man who purposefully got vaccinated for Covid-19 a staggering 217 times has reported no side effects, according to researchers studying what may be the “most vaccinated person in history”.
The 62-year-old man, hailing from Magdeburg in central Germany, remains in top form, with his immune system functioning smoothly, as reported in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal.
The researchers noted that the man willingly received an excessive number of shots, against medical advice. However, they cautioned against drawing broad conclusions based on this isolated case.
The man came to the attention of researchers after news reports emerged in 2022, when he had already received 90 jabs.
At that time, media speculated that the man may have been collecting completed vaccine cards to forge and sell them to those who were reluctant to get vaccinated.
While a public prosecutor in Magdeburg launched an investigation into the alleged fraud, no criminal charges were ultimately filed, according to a recent scientific paper.
The evidence collected by the prosecutor indicated that the man had received 130 vaccinations over a span of nine months.
Nevertheless, the man claimed to have received a total of 217 vaccine doses from eight different Covid vaccines, including all mRNA versions, within a period of 29 months.
Mr. Kilian Schober, a virologist at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg in Germany and co-author of the study, stated that when they reached out to the man, he displayed great interest in undergoing several tests to examine the impact of his extensive vaccinations.
Could this be the most vaccinated person ever?
This rare case provided researchers with a unique opportunity to study what is referred to as “hyper-vaccination”.
Some scientists have theorized that the body’s immune cells potentially become less effective with repeated vaccine exposure, as they become accustomed to the antigens.
However, the German man’s immune response proved otherwise, according to the researchers.
In fact, his immune cells and antibodies for the Covid virus were found to have “significantly higher concentrations” than those in a control group of three people who had received the recommended three vaccinations.
In addition, the man did not show any signs of fatigue despite the multiple vaccinations. Even his 217th shot further increased the number of antibodies against Covid, as revealed by the researchers.
The man himself reported no vaccine-related side effects from any of the 217 jabs, nor did he ever test positive for Covid or display any signs of past infection, as disclosed by the researchers.
Nevertheless, the researchers cautioned against drawing broad conclusions from this individual’s experience.
“As a reminder, we do not endorse hypervaccination,” Mr. Schober wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Ms. Caitjan Gainty, an expert in the history of vaccines from King’s College London, who was not involved in the study, shared that she had “never come across a historical discussion of someone receiving more vaccinations than this”.
While it is “relatively unlikely” that anyone has surpassed the man’s vaccination record, she added, Mr. Spyros Lytras, a virologist from the University of Tokyo, described the number of vaccinations as “comically large”.
He further stated that while it is uncertain if this individual is the most vaccinated person in history, he is certainly the most vaccinated person reported to date, by a significant margin.
“And I doubt that we’re going to see another report like this anytime soon,” he told AFP.
Source: AFP
