6 Main Factors Increase Risk of COVID-19 Vaccine Injury

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Why do some people report adverse events after COVID-19 vaccinations while some do not? This question is central to the controversy of COVID-19 vaccine adverse events.

Doctors have identified several factors that contribute to an increased risk of spike protein-induced disease, specifically, post COVID-19 vaccine injury.

Dr. Paul Marik—Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance(FLCCC) co-founder—said at an FLCCC conference on Oct. 15 that there are many overlaps in the symptoms and disease mechanisms of long COVID and injury from the COVID-19 vaccines.

Both diseases are systemic, affecting multiple organs, tissues, and are both driven by a high load of spike protein. These spike proteins trigger inflammation, mitochondrial dysfunction, and autoimmunity.

However, not everyone will experience these symptoms.

Whether a person will suffer from spike protein injuries is dependent on factors that are both unchangeable and temporal.

Dr. Paul Marik, co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance (FLCCC) speaks at the FLCCC conference in Kissimmee, Fla., on Oct. 15, 2022. Oliver Trey/NTD News

Spike Protein Exposure Increases Risk, Severity

The best way to reduce spike protein injuries is to reduce opportunities of spike protein exposure through infections or vaccinations.

While early treatment can usually prevent spike protein exposure by clearing spike from the lungs, blocking spike from entering the blood. Vaccines bypass the lungs by administering spike protein genetic materials directly into the muscles and blood vessels.

There is a dose-response with the vaccine, such that the greater the number of vaccine doses, the higher the risk of spike protein injury.

“The more the patients are exposed to spike [proteins], the more severe the disease,” said Marik.

Dr. Flavio Cadegianni hypothesized that receiving COVID-19 vaccines after having had COVID-19 increases one’s risk of spike protein injury. This is because vaccines likely trigger a higher amount of spike protein load in the bloodstream than a common COVID-19 infection.

In a common COVID-19 infection, it is difficult for the virus to enter the bloodstream through the lungs, but the vaccination gives spike protein mRNA and DNA a one-way ticket into the deltoid and then into the bloodstream.

The mRNA and DNA vaccines then enter the blood vessels and endothelial cells, these cells then produce spike proteins and present them on their cellular surface, resulting in an immune attack against these cells.

Spike proteins from vaccines can also be free-floating in the bloodstream and in the extracellular fluid (lymph fluid). These spike proteins can trigger inflammatory pathways by binding to and reducing ACE2 receptors, forming complexes with antibodies, and triggering immune pathways that lead to pro-inflammatory responses.

Spike proteins from vaccination have been observed to be present even at 9 months (pdf) following vaccination, so subsequent shots 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 that he noticed his patients with either of these conditions would appear to worsen with subsequent spike exposures.

He recommended his patients to therefore avoid opportunities that may lead to spike protein exposure lest their symptoms go out of control.

Dr. Pierre Kory, co-founder and Chief Medical Officer of FLCCC speaks at the FLCCC conference in Kissimmee, Fla., on Oct. 15, 2022. Oliver Trey/NTD News

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 are 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 (EMA) showed 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 is in the vials.

“We basically do not know what’s in these vaccines,” said Merryl Nass, an FLCCC-affiliated internal medicine specialist at the FLCCC conference. Doctors only know that some people are injured and that not all vials are made the same.

Nass had her medical license suspended by the Board of Licensure in Medicine (BOLIM), a state agency that regulates medical licensing in Maine. In January 2022 she received an order to submit to a neuropsychological evaluation by a psychologist selected by BOLIM to determine whether she was competent to practice medicine, citing her online criticism of COVID-19 policies as cause for concern. She filed a lawsuit and recently had a hearing.

DNA double helix. typographyimages/Pixabay

Genetic Factors

“There’s a genetic predisposition,” said Marik. “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.

Around 40 percent of people in the United States carry or are affected by the MTHFR mutation. It is an enzyme responsible for transforming folate (vitamin B9) into its active form. Folate plays a role in breaking down homocysteine—an amino acid that is 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.

Testimonies (pdf 1, pdf 2) from people with relatives who carry MTHFR mutations have told of adverse events following vaccination. However, the actual mechanism behind this genetic predisposition is not well understood.

People with MTHFR mutations have generally been reported to have a higher risk of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, hypertension, blood clotting disorders, pregnancy loss, and certain types of cancer.

Ehlers-Danlos type syndrome is a disorder of connective tissue primarily affecting the skin, joints, and blood vessels. People with these conditions often report joint dislocation, chronic pain, and chronic fatigue. This condition is also often associated with inflammation—a primary driver of long COVID and spike protein-induced disease.

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Underlying Chronic Diseases and Immune Deficiencies

Metabolic diseases, especially high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes, have been associated with severe symptoms in COVID-19 infections and vaccination.

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. The 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.

“We’re talking about mononuclear cells in the brain, in the heart, in the liver, the spleen in the ovaries, so it results in a systemic disease,” said Marik.

Spike proteins are also highly autoimmune, meaning that it is able to trigger the immune system to mount attacks against self-tissues.

Studies led by Dr. Aristo Vojdani showed that antibodies made against SARS-CoV-2 spike proteins reacted “with various tissue antigens including the muscles, joints, thyroid, brain, skin, gastrointestinal tract, almost any antigen taken from different parts of the body,” said Vojdani to The Epoch Times.

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 severities.

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.

Modern life has taken us away from the sunlight and deprived us of our primary source of vitamin D, a nutrient critical to our health and immune function. Aleksandra Gigowska/Shutterstock

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 (pdf) authored by UK researchers 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.

“Vaccines, including the COVID-19 vaccines, are known to cause severe and/or chronic neurological reactions in rare cases. We support screening for vitamin B12 deficiency prior to vaccination in high-risk groups,” wrote the study authors.

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.

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Age and Sex

Marik said that women generally have a higher risk of  suffering from symptoms following COVID-19 vaccination.

He based this statement on the results from a survey conducted by React19 (pdf), 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.

Results from REACT19 survey on vaccine injured people, survey conducted on Oct. 5, 2021. Courtesy of React19

Data from VAERS also showed that women constituted around 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.

Though ACE2 receptors are found across many organs, studies show that it is particularly abundant in the ovaries and the eggs.

Since the rollout of vaccines, many women have reported menstrual irregularities.

A study published (pdf) on My Cycle Story compiled survey results from more than 6,000 women. The study found alarming results: while fewer than 40 cases of decidual cast shedding have been documented over the past 100 years, after the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, 292 women experienced decidual cast shedding.