COVID-19 vaccines effectively prevent severe disease; haven’t shown signs of antibody-dependent enhancement as claimed by Robert Malone – Health…

CLAIM

COVID-19 vaccines will cause the virus to be more dangerous, will make the SARS-CoV-2 more dangerous due to a mechanism called antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE)

DETAILS

Inadequate support: COVID-19 vaccines havent shown signs of antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE) in animal studies or vaccinated people. On the contrary, evidence indicates that vaccination reduces the risk of infection and the severity of the disease.Misrepresents source: Fully vaccinated people who become infected tend to show less virus than unvaccinated people. The video misinterprets an article by NBC News reporting on new data about the Delta variant in particular. When infected with this variant, vaccinated people might have viral levels similar to unvaccinated people, but not higher as the video claimed.

KEY TAKE AWAY

Antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE) is a mechanism that occurs when antibodies can't neutralize a virus but instead increase its ability to infect cells, making the disease worse. While ADE was a concern during COVID-19 vaccine development, previous knowledge allowed researchers to minimize this risk from early stages. COVID-19 vaccines haven't shown signs of causing more severe disease in animal studies, clinical trials, nor vaccination roll-out. On the contrary, all FDA-authorized COVID-19 vaccines are highly effective in preventing severe disease.

REVIEW On 28 July 2021, the podcast War Room: Pandemic published this video interview between host Steve Bannon and the vaccine and clinical consultant Robert Malone. The video was widely shared on social media platforms, receiving more than 25,000 interactions on Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, and Twitter (see examples here, here, here, and here)

Both Bannon and Malone have previously spread misinformation on COVID-19 vaccines. In November 2020, Twitter permanently suspended Bannon after he suggested that certain U.S. officials like Anthony Fauci should be beheaded, violating the platforms policies against the glorification of violence. YouTube later removed the podcasts channel in January 2021 for violating the platforms policies on misinformation.

Malones interview focused on the primary claim that COVID-19 vaccination will make the SARS-CoV-2 more dangerous due to a mechanism called antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE). ADE occurs when antibodies cant neutralize a virus but instead facilitate its capacity of infecting cells. This phenomenon increases the risk that vaccinated individuals develop more severe disease when exposed to the virus.

Claims that COVID-19 vaccines would cause ADE started circulating on social media platforms early in the pandemic. Such claims are baseless and actually contradict scientific evidence, as we explain below.

ADE is not a characteristic of a particular vaccine but of a disease itself. The first reports of ADE came from patients with dengue virus infections. Researchers observed that previous infection with one of the four variants of the virus often worsened the symptoms of the disease if the person had a second infection with a different variant. This phenomenon caused problems in the development of vaccines for dengue, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), measles, and some coronaviruses, including severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-1) and middle east respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV).

The risk of ADE was a true concern during the development of COVID-19 vaccine candidates[1]. However, previous knowledge helped researchers to minimize this risk from the early stages of COVID-19 vaccine development[2]. This influenced critical decisions during vaccine design, such as targeting the spike protein instead of other viral proteins that had caused ADE in vaccine candidates against past coronaviruses[3]. Researchers also conducted specific animal studies to detect ADE and closely monitored clinical trial participants for any sign of this phenomenon in COVID-19 vaccine candidates[4].

The result of this awareness is that COVID-19 vaccines developed so far showed no signs of ADE in animal studies, clinical trials, or during vaccine roll-out. Real-world studies further demonstrate that all FDA-authorized COVID-19 vaccines are highly effective in preventing severe disease and death[5,6]. Furthermore, COVID-19 infections in fully vaccinated individuals are rare and tend to produce milder symptoms than in those who didnt receive the vaccine[6,7]. This is exactly the opposite of what one would expect if ADE was occurring.

During the interview, Malone further claimed that SARS-CoV-2 variants are most likely developing in the people who have been vaccinated, increasing the risk of ADE. As Health Feedback covered in previous reviews, current evidence doesnt support the claim that COVID-19 vaccines lead to more viral variants, and actually contradicts it.

Each time the virus replicates, it can introduce mutations, which are changes in its genetic sequence. These changes are random and a natural process in viral evolution. The more infections the virus causes, the more times it replicates, increasing the likelihood of generating new mutations that might spread as new variants. Studies show that long-lasting infections also favor the development of new mutations.

If COVID-19 vaccines did lead to more variants, those regions with higher vaccination rates would observe more new variants circulating among the population. This isnt the case. In fact, all current variants of concern emerged in 2020, before the vaccination campaigns began. Because COVID-19 vaccines effectively prevent infections, hospitalizations, and deaths, they also make it less likely for the virus to mutate and for new variants to spread. In contrast, unvaccinated individuals are more likely to get infected and develop severe COVID-19, increasing the chances of new variants to emerge.

Given the above evidence that COVID-19 vaccines arent worsening the disease, on what grounds claimed Malone that COVID-19 vaccines cause ADE?

During the interview, Malone mentioned a 27 July 2021 article by NBC news discussing an imminent update on face masks guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This update reversed previous indoor masks policy and recommended that fully vaccinated people wear masks indoors again in places with high transmission rates.

According to Malone, NBC News reported that this change in guidance responded to new data suggesting that people vaccinated against COVID-19 had more virus than unvaccinated individuals. Malone also shared this claim in a tweet, together with a screenshot from a USA Today article echoing that of NBC News. USA Today removed this part of the article in a later update. However, neither NBC nor USA Today stated what Malone claimed:

Federal health officials still believe fully vaccinated individuals represent a very small amount of transmission. Still, some vaccinated people could be carrying higher levels of the virus than previously understood and potentially transmit it to others. NBC News.

NBC News, citing unnamed officials aware of the decision, reported it comes after new data suggests vaccinated individuals could have higher levels of virus and infect others amid the surge of cases driven by the delta variant of the coronavirus. USA Today.

Multiple studies show that the few people who develop COVID-19 after receiving the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine tend to have a lower viral load than unvaccinated people[8,9]. New data suggest that viral levels in vaccinated individuals who get infected with the Delta variant might be as high as in unvaccinated individuals, but not higher as Malone claimed[10]. These data imply that some vaccinated individuals who get infected might still transmit the virus to others and is what informed the CDCs decision to reverse face mask policy, as the article by NBC News reported.

In summary, Malone misrepresented the NBC News article to claim that vaccinated individuals have higher virus levels than unvaccinated individuals, which is inaccurate. Vaccinated people who become infected generally show less virus than unvaccinated people. When infected with the Delta variant in particular, viral levels in vaccinated individuals can be similar to those in unvaccinated, but not higher.

COVID-19 vaccines are highly effective in preventing severe COVID-19 and reducing the risk of infection. Contrary to what Malone claimed, vaccinated individuals who become infected tend to have milder symptoms than unvaccinated individuals. By reducing the risk of infection and severe disease, COVID-19 vaccines also limit the spread of the virus within the population, making it less likely for new variants to emerge.

The medicinal chemist Derek Lowe made in his blog in Science Translational Medicine a detailed analysis of ADE in the context of COVID-19 vaccines. He also discussed previous research on ADE in different diseases and the mechanisms that can lead to it.

Originally posted here:

COVID-19 vaccines effectively prevent severe disease; haven't shown signs of antibody-dependent enhancement as claimed by Robert Malone - Health...