Yale Post Vaccination Syndrome Study - the Spike Protein is as Transient as Inflation

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In a new study, Yale researchers have taken initial steps to characterize this condition, uncovering potential immunological patterns that differentiate those with PVS from others. The findings are early and require further confirmation but may eventually guide strategies to help affected individuals.

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Some of the most common chronic symptoms of PVS include exercise intolerance, excessive fatigue, brain fog, insomnia, and dizziness. They develop shortly after vaccination, within a day or two, can become more severe in the days that follow, and persist over time. More studies are needed to understand the prevalence of PVS.

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From participants’ blood samples, the researchers looked for immune features that were different between the two groups. They found several differences in immune cell populations; those with PVS had lower levels of effector CD4+ T cells and higher levels of TNF-alpha+ CD8 T cells — both are types of white blood cells — among other differences.

There were also differences in the levels of antibodies that the body uses to target SARS-CoV-2. Participants with PVS who had never contracted COVID-19 had lower levels of antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein than control participants, likely because they tended to have fewer vaccine doses than individuals without PVS. Fewer vaccine doses and no viral infection means the body’s immune system has had little opportunity to develop a defense to the virus, said the researchers.

When the researchers measured levels of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein — the part of the virus that enables it to penetrate and infect host cells and what COVID-19 vaccines use to trigger immune responses against the virus — they found that some individuals with PVS, even those without evidence for infection, had higher levels of spike protein than controls.

Typically spike protein can be detected for a few days after vaccination, but some participants with PVS had detectable levels more than 700 days after their last vaccination. Persistent spike protein has been associated with long COVID as well.

“That was surprising, to find spike protein in circulation at such a late time point,” said Iwasaki. “We don’t know if the level of spike protein is causing the chronic symptoms, because there were other participants with PVS who didn’t have any measurable spike protein. But it could be one mechanism underlying this syndrome.”

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