Sars-CoV-2 viruses. Image: NIAID /CC BY-2.0
Vaccines that use the spike protein, as observed in Mers and Sars studies, could lead to the formation of infection-enhancing antibodies and immune pathogenesis
Many questions about the new vaccines, which are likely to be approved shortly, are still unknown. It is unclear how long they protect, whether they have to be vaccinated again every year, whether they are equally effective for all age groups, whether people who have been vaccinated can continue to be infected or whether major side effects can occur with massive vaccination. The willingness to vaccinate is partly not so great because pharmaceutical companies and governments want to bring the vaccines onto the market as quickly as possible for financial and political reasons (Covid vaccinations for money or other advantages).
After Russia and China have already advanced, the White House, while Donald Trump is still fighting his election defeat, is willing to gain more points with a quick introduction. Moncef Slaoui, who is in charge of the development of Covid-19 vaccines in the White House, explained told CNN yesterday that Americans could expect to be vaccinated in the second week of December following FDA approval on December 11th or 12th. On Friday, Pfizer (Pfizer boss sold 62 percent of his shares and made friction) applied for an emergency permit.
Vaccines that can make it easier to enter cells
A medical ethical one study by Timothy Cardozo (NYU Langone Health) and Ronald Veazey (Tulane University School of Medicine) points out a possible danger with all vaccines with the unchanged or slightly changed Spike (S) protein, in order to prevent the formation of antibodies against Sars-CoV- 2 stimulate. The background is that, according to the two scientists, the people who are now taking part in the clinical studies were not adequately informed about the possible risks of vaccination.
For their study, the scientists searched the research literature for clues as to whether corona vaccines could make the disease worse. This is known with RSV, dengue fever and measles. It is also known that vaccines for the Sars and Mers coronaviruses have not yet been approved. Data collected in the development and testing of these vaccines would indicate that vaccines that use the Spike (S) protein, whether they use protein, a viral vector, DNA or RNA, have a Covid-19 – Infection-enhancing antibodies (ADE) can exacerbate the disease. These are antibodies that bind to the virus, but do not render it harmless, but make it easier for the virus to penetrate the cell. This can lead to immune pathogenesis.
One study showed that antibodies in macaques infected with Sars caused inflammation and tissue damage in the lungs, which was also observed in Sars-infected people who had died from it. The antibodies initially checked the virus in the macaques, but then suddenly triggered a severe, tissue-damaging inflammatory reaction in the lungs. This had already been seen in an immune system-mediated disease in which people vaccinated against RSV died because the RSV disease was aggravated by it. The scientists see a similarity in Covid-19 patients, in whom a serious illness is associated with the development of anti-Sars-CoV-2 antibodies in the serum. In contrast, patients who recover quickly have few or no such serum antibodies.
Participants in the clinical studies not adequately informed
There is a “non-theoretical risk” in the medical literature, the scientists conclude, that vaccines that use the Sars-CoV-2 spike to trigger the formation of antibodies put the vaccinated at an increased risk of severe Covid-19 Expose disease if exposed to these viruses. Such infection-enhancing antibodies (ADE) have not yet been shown in Covid-19 vaccines. However, all preclinical studies were carried out with the Wuhan virus, while the mutant D614G is now dominant, which seems to differ from the Wuhan virus in terms of the spike protein. In addition, the clinical studies have so far not included how the vaccinated react to circulating viruses. Only then would ADE / immunopathology occur.
It is unclear whether the risk can actually materialize. But the participants in the vaccination studies should also be informed about small risks before the experiments. The signed declarations of consent are not accessible for data protection reasons. Only the risks mentioned in the protocols for the participants in the clinical studies of Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson are known. There the risk is listed that the disease could be exacerbated, but in the last or almost last place. Pfizer and Moderne do not mention Sars and Mers. Do not make it clear that participants would learn that they could be at risk of serious illness or death. One can operate a quick approval without concealing from the participants that an ADE risk can exist.
(Florian Rötzer)
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