Report claims that the Covid-19 vaccines may have made people chronically ill:
"Not possible to conclude," says researcher
We cannot say for sure that Covid-19 vaccines can cause long-term problems like fatigue, according to vaccine researcher Gunnveig Grødeland.
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Could long-term adverse effects like fatigue, brain fog, headaches, cognitive issues, and muscle pains stem from the Covid-19 vaccines?
After reviewing research in the field, immunology professor Elling Ulvestad answered yes to this question in a report commissioned by the Norwegian Nurses Organisation (link in Norwegian).
Several nurses have experienced these side effects after being vaccinated but have had their applications for compensation rejected by the Norwegian System of Patient Injury Compensation (NPE).
“The three Covid-19 vaccines used in Norway can cause illness in the form of fatigue, muscle pain, and cognitive problems,” Ulvestad stated on Norwegian Broadcasting Corportation NRK Nyhetsmorgen on September 17th.
It seems that those who get these long-term symptoms experience an inflammatory reaction that does not turn off, says the professor. And we do not know why it does not turn off.
Not so simple
But is it really possible to give a definitive answer?
No, it's not that simple, according to vaccine researcher Gunnveig Grødeland.
“It's extremely important to research and try to better understand these processes. However, I believe we're unfortunately not yet in a position where the research can provide any definitive conclusions," she says.
Grødeland has also recently written a report on Covid-19 vaccines and side effects (link in Norwegian), after the NPE asked her to answer questions.
“I have reviewed the literature and searched for all sorts of arguments. The only conclusion I can draw with certainty so far is that basic vaccination with two or three doses significantly reduces the chance of getting long Covid. This is clear from the literature,” says Grødeland.
“As for side effects resembling a form of long Covid after vaccination, I can only find isolated cases where people believe it's related, but no evidence that enables me to come to a conclusion today,” she says.
Long vax
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It already has a name: Post-Vaccination Syndrome, also known as long vax.
In a news article in the journal Science from the summer of 2023, it states that a connection between long Covid-like illness and Covid-19 vaccines is beginning to gain recognition among researchers and doctors. The condition appears to be very rare, and the symptoms include persistent headaches, severe fatigue, abnormal heart rate, and blood pressure.
“You see one or two patients and you wonder if it's a coincidence,” says Anne Louise Oaklander, a neurologist and researcher at Harvard Medical School. “But by the time you've seen 10, 20... Where there's smoke, there's fire.”
The article addresses possible conditions that could result from vaccination, including postural tachycardia syndrome, or POTS. It is a condition where the heart beats faster than it should when you change position, without the blood pressure falling. An overreactive immune system – and a condition called small fibre neuropathy where nerves do not function as they should, thus sending pain signals – are also discussed.
“I wouldn't rule out that there could be a connection here,” says Grødeland.
She refers to the long vax phenomenon and the article in Science in her report.
“They've given it a name, so there should be something published on it. I’ve searched for it intensely. But so far there are more hypotheses than conclusions,” she says.
The virus, the vaccine, or something else?
Both vaccines and viruses trigger inflammatory responses in our bodies.
Immunologist Ulvestad spends a significant portion of his report explaining how the immune system and vaccines work.
He concludes that some of us experience an immune response to the vaccines that leads to these rare side effects.
‘It remains for science to explain why some vaccinated individuals do not downregulate the immune respons, and thus develop long-term illness,’ he writes.
But Grødeland believes the fact that both vaccines and viruses cause inflammation is not proof.
“All vaccines must trigger some level of inflammatory response in order to be effective, so this isn't something unique to the SARS-CoV-2 vaccines,” she says.
“A lot of other things can cause inflammation, so here we simply don’t have an explanation for why this would occur after using one or more types of Covid-19 vaccines. It’s especially difficult to distinguish the effects of vaccines from the effects of the virus, particularly after Omicron came along,” she says.
Does the type of vaccine matter?
According to Ulvestad's report, there are no significant differences between the various types of Covid-19 vaccines.
‘I have not found any data to suggest that there are differences between the three vaccines' ability to trigger side effects,’ he writes.
He therefore concludes that the problem lies in the immune response of those who receive the vaccine.
Grødeland disagrees.
"There are important differences here, as the differences in side effect profiles after vaccination clearly show. We have enough data here to create statistics," she says.
The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines used in Norway were mRNA vaccines. The vaccine from AstraZeneca was a DNA vaccine delivered into the body through an adenovirus vector.
The AstraZeneca vaccine was stopped in Norway after four healthcare workers died as a result of a very rare side effect where life-threatening blood clots formed due to the vaccine.
“The mRNA vaccines and the AstraZeneca vaccine have very different side effects. There are far more systemic side effects after using AstraZeneca. The most common adverse effect after mRNA vaccines is pain at the vaccination site,” says Grødeland.
“After receiving AstraZeneca, it’s not uncommon to have a headache for several weeks after vaccination. This is not the case with the mRNA vaccine,” she says.
Delivery to the cells
The explanation lies in how the vaccine is delivered into the body, the vaccine researcher explains.
The mRNA vaccine is encapsulated in fat particles that quickly dissolve in the body. The AstraZeneca vaccine used a weakened adenovirus for delivery.
“The adenovirus that delivers DNA to our cells is a virus and has all the patterns and characteristics that the innate system will recognise as foreign. This causes a much stronger immune activation than what you would see with the fat particles of the mRNA vaccines,” says Grødeland.
Is it then more likely that long vax is found among people who received the AstraZeneca vaccine?
“I would intuitively think that the likelihood is greater because of the stronger activation,” says Grødeland, but points out that this is just a guess.
Extremely rare, if it even exists
Creating statistics on long vax, however, seems close to impossible, according to Grødeland.
“Given how rarely it occurs, it's so uncommon that you wouldn't see it at a broader level,” says Grødeland.
In his report, Ulvestad also addresses this, questioning how effectively the reporting of side effects can detect conditions like long vax.
To conclude whether long vax is actually an issue of concern, the angle of approach must be different, Grødeland says. Instead of finding patterns in large amounts of data, researchers must study cells – in animals and humans.
“You don't need that many individuals with long vax, if they actually do have it, to find immunological markers,” says Grødeland.
What researchers need to find are markers in the body that result from the condition, and then they must try to understand how it has developed, Grødeland explains.
This is similar to what researchers are doing to understand long Covid.
“As soon as we find the markers for long Covid in those who developed it after infection, much of this knowledge can likely be transferred to long vax,” she says.
Safe vaccines that have saved lives
Jörn Klein is a professor of microbiology, epidemiology, and infection control at the University of South-Eastern Norway.
He believes that Ulvestad's report provides a thorough review of how the Covid-19 vaccines work and what side effects they have.
But he feels it lacks an important perspective.
"There could've been a greater focus on the strong safety of the Covid-19 vaccines, especially considering the data we have from global studies," says Klein.
He refers to a recently published report in The Lancet estimating that the vaccines saved 1.6 million lives in Europe.
“My main message is that the vaccines are safe. They protect us, they save lives, and they also prevent many of the described side effects. Recent studies also show that vaccination significantly reduces the risk of long Covid,” he says.
Klein is concerned that the type of investigation commissioned by the Norwegian Nurses Organisation from Ulvestad appeals to those who are sceptical of vaccines.
“All medicines, including vaccines, have side effects. You always have to weigh this against how many people are alive because of the vaccine and how many have avoided long-term damage due to vaccination. The report itself doesn’t say anything wrong. But it’s framed in an unfortunate way,” he says.
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Translated by Ingrid P. Nuse
Read the Norwegian version of this article on forskning.no
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