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Dr Gérald Kierzek (Medical Director)
A 62-year-old German resident in the city of Magdeburg received no less than 217 doses of Covid vaccine in 29 months. Is there any benefit or risk in receiving so many doses? Doctissimo asked the question to Dr Gérald Kierzek.
This is an original, even dangerous, way of fighting Covid-19 to say the least. A 62-year-old man living in Germany was vaccinated 217 times in 29 months – between June 2021 and November 2023 – against the disease. In total, 134 vaccinations have been officially confirmed, the remaining 83 are self-declared. He therefore received a dose of vaccine once every four days on average, if we count them in total.
An unprecedented case of hypervaccination
The case of this man is striking. Both from a psychological point of view, to understand one’s motivations for being vaccinated so many times, but also for medical research. Because as Dr. Gérald Kierzek, emergency physician and medical director of Doctissimo, reminds us, “it’s heresy to overstimulate your immune system in this way, it’s not trivial”.
According to the publication on his case in the journal Lancet Infectious Diseases, his “hypervaccination” did not cause any adverse health effects and it did not significantly improve or worsen his immune response. Scientists have noted the presence of a large number of T cells, immune cells capable of destroying cells infected by Covid-19. And they didn’t seem to show any signs of fatigue in the immune response. “This man is a case for science, even if we know that antibodies are not the best way to measure the effectiveness of a vaccination. adds Dr. Kierzek.
No side effects reported to date
The sixty-year-old has never been affected by Covid-19, as proven by the various PCR tests carried out during the period. He also does not report any side effects linked to the different vaccines received. “This is a really unusual case: someone receiving so many Covid vaccines, and clearly not following any type of guidelines.” indicates Dr. Emily Happy Miller, assistant professor of medicine and microbiology and immunology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine to our colleagues at CNN.
The authors point out that this is the study of a single case and that it is difficult to draw conclusions. They do not recommend hypervaccination as an immunity-boosting strategy,”because there is little difference between three or 200 vaccinations” estimates Dr. Kilian Schober, lead author of the study and researcher at the Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nürnberg. “Current research indicates that three-dose vaccination, associated with regular complementary vaccines for vulnerable groups, remains the preferred approach” conclude the experts.
A police investigation is open
Beyond the scientific aspect, it is man’s motivations that raise questions. Why receive the same vaccine so many times? According to our colleagues at the BBC, who were interested in the subject, the man could have resold the vaccination certificates, once obtained. For the moment, justice is continuing its investigation and the Magdeburg prosecutor is also considering filing a complaint.