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Risk Factors
A woman hugs her grandmother through a plastic drop cloth amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Wantagh, N.Y., on May 24, 2020.
6 Main Factors Increase Risk of COVID-19 Vaccine Injury
Not all vaccine vials are made equal
By Marina Zhang
Why do some people get long COVID but not others? Why do some people report adverse events after COVID-19 vaccinations while some don’t? This question is central to the controversy of COVID-19 vaccine adverse events, and doctors treating these symptoms have identified several factors that contribute to an increased risk of spike protein injury.
1. Amount of Spike Protein Exposure
“The more the patients are exposed to spike [proteins], the more severe the disease,” said Dr. Paul Marik, critical care specialist and co-founder of Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance (FLCCC). Spike proteins from vaccination have been observed to be present even at nine months following vaccination, so subsequent doses and boosters could lead to more spike protein production and, therefore, higher risks of disease.
Dr. Pierre Kory, co-founder of FLCCC, who now has a clinic for treating long COVID and vaccine injury, said he noticed his patients with either of these conditions would appear to worsen with subsequent spike protein exposures.
He recommended that his patients avoid opportunities that may lead to spike protein exposure, lest their symptoms get out of control.
2. Varied Loads in Vaccines
Not all vaccine vials are made equal.
How Bad is My Batch is a website that compiles data on adverse events from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) on COVID-19 vaccination. By separating each adverse event into its corresponding vaccine batch, the website has shown that some vials are likely different from others, as they’re associated with a greater number of adverse events, deaths, and disabilities.
This could be due to impurities in the vaccines.
Leaked emails from staff in the European Medicines Agency show that the agency only asked for 50 percent mRNA integrity in their Pfizer vaccinations.
However, potential issues could also be due to the dosage; some vials may have a higher mRNA or DNA spike protein content than others. Currently, doctors have no way to verify what’s in the vials.
3. Genetic Factors
“There’s a genetic predisposition,” Marik said. “If someone in the family is vaccine injured, it is very common that the brothers of that individual ... [will also become] vaccine injured, so there are genetic factors which we don’t understand.”
Marik has observed that certain genetic mutations may also put them at a greater risk of COVID-19 vaccine injury.
This included individuals with a methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene mutation and those with Ehlers-Danlos type syndromes.
Approximately 40 percent of people in the United States carry or are affected by the MTHFR mutation. It’s an enzyme responsible for transforming folate (vitamin B9) into its active form. Folate plays a role in breaking down homocysteine—an amino acid that’s toxic in higher concentrations—to methionine, a useful amino acid.
Depending on the type of the MTHFR mutation and the number of copies a person carries, the MTHFR enzyme function can be moderately or severely reduced.
This can put a person at a higher risk of folate deficiencies, which also increases a person’s risk of severe COVID-19 such that homocysteine levels have been directly predictive for worsened COVID-19 outcomes.
4. Underlying Immune Deficiencies
Metabolic diseases, especially high blood pressure and Type 2 diabetes, have been associated with severe symptoms in COVID-19 infections and vaccinations.
Dr. Aseem Malhotra, a renowned cardiologist, wrote in his paper that even “a single high blood glucose reading in non-diabetics admitted to hospital [for COVID-19] has been shown to be associated with worse outcomes.”
Many metabolic diseases, including obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease, are driven by inflammation. Spike proteins also trigger many inflammatory pathways, which may be why people with these chronic diseases are at a greater risk.
Spike proteins both from the virus and the vaccine can bind to ACE2 receptors displayed on cells across any tissue it comes into contact with. ACE2 is responsible for reducing inflammation, but this binding reduces ACE2 receptors and, therefore, increases inflammation across the tissues. A significant finding Marik and Kory observed was that individuals suffering from vaccine injury have a higher concentration of autoantibodies than those with long COVID.
Many studies have observed onset or a relapse of autoimmune diseases after COVID-19 vaccination. Documented cases include multiple sclerosis, neuromyelitis, arthritis, type 1 diabetes, and many more. Those with a relapse of autoimmune diseases often experienced symptoms of greater severity. These are all suggestive that people with underlying chronic diseases that compromise their health and immune system are at a greater risk of possible vaccine injury.
5. Vitamin Deficiencies
Deficiencies in folate, cobalamin (vitamin B12), and vitamin D have been associated with an elevated risk of COVID-19 infection.
A pre-print study authored by UK researchers and funded by the National Health Service found that supplementation in vitamin D and vitamin B12 relieved neurological symptoms caused by COVID-19 vaccination.
Vitamin D is anti-inflammatory and can boost immune action. Vitamin B12 is critical for neural health, as it helps to produce myeline—a fatty coat wrapped around neurons that protects them from scarring and improves neural messaging.
Folate deficiencies have also been observed in patients hospitalized
with COVID-19. The vitamin plays a role in the formation of DNA and RNA for cellular protein.
6. Age and Sex
Marik said women generally have a higher risk of suffering from symptoms following COVID-19 vaccination.
He based this statement on the results of a survey conducted by React19, a website that provides advice on vaccine injuries and early treatment. There were 508 patients suffering from post-vaccination injury evaluated in October 2021 as part of the questionnaire.
The survey found that 81 percent of people reporting vaccine injury were females. Between the two sexes, patients aged between 30 to 50 were the most prevalent.
Data from VAERS also show that women constituted about 65 percent of the adverse event reports; 41 percent of these reports came from women aged 18 to 49 at the time of the report.
Women in the 50 to 59 age bracket and the 65 to 79 age bracket also constituted a large fraction of the adverse event reports, taking up almost 35 percent of all reports in females.
Spike proteins trigger inflammation through many pathways. One pathway is through binding to ACE2 receptors on cell surfaces. This receptor is important for reducing inflammation, and a reduction of ACE2 through spike protein interaction thus increases inflammation.
Although ACE2 receptors are found across many organs, studies show that they’re particularly abundant in the ovaries and the eggs.
