The corona vaccines are considered very safe. Nevertheless, opponents of vaccination vehemently warn of vaccination damage. But how often do they really occur after immunization? Now there are the first numbers. They are reassuring.
Never before have so many people been vaccinated against a specific disease in such a short time as has been the case in the fight against Covid-19 in recent months. According to figures from Our World in Data, more than 9.88 billion doses have now been administered worldwide, 162.1 million in Germany alone. Due to the sheer number of vaccinations, very rare side effects could also be discovered quickly. However, opponents of vaccination continue to fuel the fear of consequential damage. The first concrete data on the frequency of vaccination damage is now available. Spoilers: they are very rare.
The most important questions and answers at a glance.
When does one speak of a so-called vaccine damage?
According to the Infection Protection Act, vaccination damage is “the health and economic consequence of damage to health caused by the vaccination that goes beyond the usual extent of a vaccination reaction”, which leads to permanent damage to health. Permanent means a period of more than six months. In individual cases, writes the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut (PEI), very rare vaccination complications could last for a long period of time, possibly years – “but this is the absolute exception”. Conversely, this means that it can be determined at the earliest after six months whether there is actually damage caused by the vaccination. The competent authorities decide whether or not there is permanent vaccination damage on the basis of information that they obtain for each individual case, for example in the form of a specialist medical assessment. Such a review can take several months
What specific figures on vaccination damage do we know so far?
Since the start of the vaccination campaign, more than 1,200 applications for state compensation have been made nationwide for alleged damage as a result of the corona vaccination. Until 13.1. there were 1219, up to then only 54 had been processed, as the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung” (NOZ) reported. The application was approved in 18 cases.
The Free State of Bavaria has now also presented figures. According to this, in four cases there was actually damage as a result of a vaccination, as reported by the Bavarian Family and Social Center (ZBFS). These cases were recognized by the Free State as so-called vaccine damage. In addition, three other applications were rejected and two were withdrawn. However: 263 applications were still unprocessed in mid-January, so the number of recognized vaccine damages could still increase. A total of around 25 million vaccine doses have been administered in Bavaria since the start of the vaccination campaign.
The data show how rare vaccine damage is. The number of cases confirmed so far is only 0.000016 percent.
How many suspected cases of vaccine-related damage are confirmed?
This cannot be reliably assessed at this point in time. With regard to the applications made in Austria, the vaccine expert and infectiologist Herwig Kollaritsch told the ORF that it was known from the past that about every tenth application was approved. If you take the numbers researched by “NOZ”, you get a different quota. According to this, almost exactly every third application has been decided positively so far. However, not all applications have been evaluated yet.
What are the vaccine damages?
It is not known what vaccination damage is involved in the cases and how severe the damage is. The authority in Bavaria referred to data protection.
Can victims expect compensation?
Yes. “Anyone who has suffered vaccination damage as a result of a publicly recommended vaccination can apply for care under the Federal Health Care Act,” says the RKI. This is regulated in the Infection Protection Act. However, the burden of proof lies with those affected. If the vaccination damage is recognized, as in the case of the four Bavarians, the injured party is entitled to take over the medical and medical treatment and, if necessary, a basic pension. Depending on the severity of the vaccination damage, this amounts to 156 to 811 euros per month. There may also be other payments such as compensation for professional disadvantages that have arisen. It is not known how much compensation was awarded to those affected with recognized vaccination damage after a corona vaccination.
What else do we know about so-called long-term vaccine damage?
“Concerned citizens understand long-term effects – often also called late effects – to be side effects that only occur with a delay of many months or years after vaccination. These concerns are unjustified. We do not know of such very late-onset side effects of vaccines,” says das PEI. Such cases, which can also be read on the RKI website, “have not been observed with any vaccination”. Immunologist Carsten Watzl commented on the debate about the long-term consequences of vaccination in October last year to the “Dpa” with the words: “It doesn’t exist, has never existed and will not occur with the Covid 19 vaccination either.” (Read the detailed explanation here)
Who checks the safety of the corona vaccines?
In Germany, the PEI is responsible for monitoring the safety of corona vaccines, and the institute collects data on possible side effects. “Reporting suspected cases of side effects is a central pillar for assessing the safety of drugs,” writes the Paul Ehrlich Institute on its website. This would allow “new signals to be detected and the benefit-risk profile of the vaccines to be continuously monitored”. According to the current state of knowledge, serious side effects are very rare, according to the PEI, “and do not change the positive benefit-risk ratio of the vaccines”. (More about this here)
Sources: , , , , ,
Source From: Stern
