Scientists find clues on why COVID vaccine causes chronic health problems in some
For a majority of people, the COVID vaccine doesn't cause adverse health effects — but a small percentage experience chronic symptoms that can last for months or even years.
Yale researchers recently made some discoveries about why certain people experience this condition, which they have dubbed "post-vaccination syndrome" (PVS).
In early findings, the team recognized "potential immunological patterns" that are unique to people with PVS. The hope is that this discovery will help to enable future treatments and therapies for those who are affected.
"This work is still in its early stages, and we need to validate these findings," said co-senior study author Akiko Iwasaki, Sterling Professor of Immunobiology at Yale School of Medicine, in a press release.
"But this is giving us some hope that there may be something that we can use for diagnosis and treatment of PVS down the road."
People with this condition may suffer from excessive fatigue, exercise intolerance, brain fog, insomnia and dizziness, according to the Yale researchers.
These typically develop within a day or two of vaccination and can worsen over time.
"It's clear that some individuals are experiencing significant challenges after vaccination. Our responsibility as scientists and clinicians is to listen to their experiences, rigorously investigate the underlying causes, and seek ways to help," said co-senior author Harlan Krumholz, professor of cardiology at YSM, in the release.
"Post-vaccination syndrome is real, and has been found [to occur] from many vaccines, including COVID," Dr. Marc Siegel, clinical professor of medicine at NYU Langone Health and Fox News senior medical analyst, told Fox News Digital.
The researchers analyzed blood samples from 42 study participants who experienced symptoms of PVS and 22 who did not.
Those with symptoms were shown to have lower levels of two types of white blood cells. People with PVS who had never had COVID also had lower levels of antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, likely because they tended to have fewer vaccine doses, according to the release.
"Post-vaccination syndrome is real, and has been found [to occur] from many vaccines."
"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.
Some of the people with PVS also had higher levels of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, which enables the virus to penetrate and infect host cells. This has also been linked to a higher risk of developing long COVID.
"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," said Iwasaki.
In addition to the elevated spike proteins, other factors could increase the risk of post-vaccination syndrome. Those include autoimmunity, tissue damage and reactivation of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), the researchers wrote.
"Akiko Iwasaka is a world-renowned immunologist at Yale who has studied COVID (and COVID vaccines) extensively," Siegel pointed out.
"In this new study, she reports that in a very small percentage of those who received COVID vaccines (and experienced prolonged side effects), there may be the presence of persistent spike protein," Siegel confirmed.
"They may also experience immune disruption, which takes the form of elevations in inflammatory immune cells (CD8 and TN alpha) and a decrease in cells that help resolve inflammation and infection (CD4 helper cells)."
The researchers agreed that more studies are essential to guide diagnosis and treatment.
"We're only just starting to make headway in understanding PVS," said Krumholz. "Every medical intervention carries some risk, and it's important to acknowledge that adverse events can occur with vaccines."
For more Health articles, visit www.foxnews.com/health
"Our focus must remain on understanding what these people are experiencing through rigorous science and addressing the needs of those affected with compassion and an open mind."
Siegel agreed, adding, "This needs to be further studied in terms of understanding how common prolonged COVID vaccine side effects are and how to predict them and treat them."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
22 minutes ago
- Yahoo
History Shows the Danger of Trump's Health Policies
U.S. President Donald Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. attend an event in the East Room of the White House on May 22, 2025 in Washington, DC. Credit - Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images On May 11, 2023, President Joseph Biden ended the COVID-19 public health emergency, calling an finish to the pandemic. By the end of 2023, COVID-19 claimed the lives of over 20 million people around the world. But through international cooperation and evidence-based science, vaccines were developed and the world moved on. Indeed, perhaps the biggest success of the period was the quick production of a COVID-19 vaccine. The research behind the mRNA vaccine had been ongoing since the 1970s, but the emergency of the pandemic and international sharing of knowledge helped bring the vaccine to fruition. Today, the COVID-19 vaccine has been credited with saving 2.4 million lives around the world. But now, the U.S. is choosing competition over cooperation. With President Donald Trump's day one executive order to leave the World Health Organization (WHO)—blaming their COVID-19 response—and the shuttering of USAID, the country is taking steps towards further dividing health efforts across the globe. Here in the U.S., a sudden end to $11.4 billion of covid-related grants is stifling national pandemic preparedness efforts on the local and state levels. And most recently, Health and Human Services Secretary RFK Jr. purged experts from the CDC Advisory Committee, putting lives at risk. Historical lessons demonstrate the need for global health infrastructure that works together, shares knowledge, and remembers that pathogens do not stop at borders. White House's Pandemic Office, Busy With Bird Flu, May Shrink Under Trump One of the greatest global health achievements of all time—smallpox eradication—provides a perfect example of what can be done with independent scientific research and international cooperation. During the Cold War between the U.S. and USSR, decades of tension brought the world to the brink of nuclear war. Yet, incredibly, the nations managed to find common ground to support the efforts of smallpox eradication. Indeed, they understood the strategic benefits that came from letting public health practitioners and scientists work outside of political divides. The WHO was founded after World War II in 1948. Its formation marked a move from international health, that focused on nations, to global health, that would serve humanity first. The WHO's first eradication effort was the failed, U.S.-backed, Malaria Eradication Program from 1955 to 1969. The Smallpox Eradication Program, with intensive efforts beginning in 1967, provided a chance for redemption for the U.S. and WHO. For the United States, investing in disease eradication and poverty helped to mitigate growing backlash against the Vietnam War. In June of 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson stated, 'I propose to dedicate this year to finding new techniques for making man's knowledge serve man's welfare.' He called for 1965—the same year he ordered ground troops to Vietnam to stop the spread of communism —to be a year of international cooperation that could bypass the politics of the Cold War. Previously, the USSR did not participate in the U.S. and WHO's first, failed global eradication plan for malaria. But upon rejoining the WHO in 1956, it was the Soviets who made the first call and investment into global eradication of smallpox in 1958. The WHO functioning as a mediator was crucial to allowing the USSR and the U.S. to work together. It allowed both nations to avoid giving credit to each other; rather success went to science itself. President Johnson called this 'a turning point' away from 'man against man' towards 'man against nature.' The limited role of politicians in the program proved to be key to its success. Scientists made decisions and worked together—no matter what country they came from—by focusing on disease and vaccination, not international tensions. The Soviet-initiated program was lead by Donald A. Henderson, a U.S. epidemiologist, who worked alongside the Russians until the last case of smallpox occurred in Somalia on October 26, 1977. During the 20th century, smallpox was responsible for an estimated 300 to 500 million deaths. Smallpox was officially declared eradicated by the WHO in October 1980, and is today still the only human disease to achieve this distinction. Less than a year after the declaration of smallpox eradication, the emergence of another pandemic, the HIV/AIDS crisis, reinforced the importance of science-first cooperation over politically-driven decision making. In June 1981, the first cases of a new unknown disease were reported in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. In short order, gay men were stigmatized and blamed in what would become one of the biggest public health disasters of all time. It took years of grassroots science-based activism to move beyond HIV/AIDS victim-blaming and find medical solutions. The Poster Child for AIDS Obscured as Much About the Crisis as He Revealed Too often, governments across the globe placed blame on the gay community for their 'sins' and did not provide needed support, leaving the sick to suffer and die. The pharmaceutical companies profited from the limited medications they had available and did not pursue sufficient development. The FDA process for new drugs was scheduled to take nine years, at a time when life expectancy after receiving an HIV/AIDS diagnosis was one year. These issues sparked activism, spawning the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) in 1987. ACT UP organizers took science into their own hands and began educating themselves. Members began reading scientific journals religiously, learning the chemistry and epidemiology of drug manufacturing and clinical trials. Members learned how to translate these dense scientific messages to educate the community members on what was—and what was not—being done to help. Because of this work, the FDA changed policies to allow for new treatments to be tested at accelerated rates in times of emergency. ACT UP was able to shift the cultural blame showing that the issue was a result of politics getting in the way of scientific advancements. By 1990, ACT UP influenced the largest federal HIV program to pass Congress, the Ryan White CARE Act. This program was a vital precursor to the 2003 PEPFAR (The U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) global initiative. Both of these histories offer a powerful lesson: global health is national health, and national health is local health. With the recent funding cuts from the U.S. government, the future of global health is going in an unknown direction. And yet, the occurrence of pandemics is expected to increase in frequency due to climate change, mass migration, urbanization, and ecosystem destruction. It has been estimated that there is about a 25% chance we will have another COVID-sized pandemic within the next 10 years. No matter how secure the world makes borders, history shows that it can not protect us from disease if we do not have a strong, interconnected public health infrastructure. Luke Jorgensen is a Master of Public Health student at Purdue University where his epidemiology research examines human migration and infectious disease. Made by History takes readers beyond the headlines with articles written and edited by professional historians. Learn more about Made by History at TIME here. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of TIME editors. Write to Made by History at madebyhistory@
The Hill
28 minutes ago
- The Hill
What to know about the new ‘Nimbus' COVID variant
The World Health Organization is keeping an eye on a new COVID-19 variant called NB.1.8.1, or 'Nimbus,' that has spread across Europe, the Americas and the Western Pacific. Nimbus is a descendant of the Omicron variant of the virus and was first identified in late January. Its spike mutations appear to make it more transmissible than other COVID variants, according to the WHO. Spike mutations refer to changes in spike proteins, which sit on the surface of the virus and help it enter healthy cells. While it is spreading in the U.S. and Canada, along with 20 other countries, it does not appear to be driving an increase in sickness or hospitalization. In April, NB.1.8.1 sequences made up 10.7 percent of all submitted sequences from confirmed COVID infections, up from 2.5 percent a month earlier, according to a risk evaluation released by the WHO. The WHO last month deemed NB.1.8.1 a variant 'under monitoring.' Here's what to know about the variant. Most cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. still stem from the LP.8.1 strain, another Omicron descendant. But it looks like NB.1.8.1 might soon replace it as the more common strain, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC estimates that 37 percent of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. stem from the NB.1.8.1 variant while 38 percent are a result from an infection of the LP.8.1 strain of the disease. At the end of May, the agency estimated that the NB.1.8.1 variant caused about 15 percent of all COVID cases. But the agency notes on its website that due to low numbers of virus sequences being reported, precision in the most recent reporting period is low. The NB.1.8.1 variant has been found in at least 13 states, according to Today, which cited data from the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID) database. Those states are: California, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Arizona, Illinois, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Ohio, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Washington. The available data on 'Nimbus' suggests that it poses a low global threat and that existing COVID-19 vaccines provide adequate protection against severe illness and hospitalization, according to the WHO. 'Currently approved COVID-19 vaccines are expected to remain effective to this variant against symptomatic and severe disease,' reads the WHO's risk evaluation. 'Despite a concurrent increase in cases and hospitalizations in some countries where NB.1.8.1 is widespread, current data do not indicate that this variant leads to more severe illness than other variants in circulation.' Lionel Gesh, an international consultant at the WHO, told The Hill that many new cases in Canada are likely linked to the NB.1.8.1 variant, but that there has not been any major changes in the country in terms of cases, hospitalizations, ICU admissions or deaths linked to COVID-19. Symptoms of NB.1.8.1 seem to be similar to those associated with other Omicron variants, according to Gresh. Some common COVID-19 symptoms include cough, fever, fatigue, muscle aches, congestion, headache, nausea, vomiting, and a new loss of smell or taste, according to the CDC. 'We should be as concerned about [NB.1.8.1] as we are concerned for COVID in general,' Gesh said. 'Not more, not less.' Some recent COVID-19 patients have reported experiencing something called 'razor blade throat,' according to Salon. But it is unclear if that symptom is connected to one of the COVID variants or another respiratory illness circulating, Ryan Gregory, an evolutionary and genome biologist at the University of Guelph in Canada, told the outlet.
Yahoo
34 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Relay Therapeutics Appoints Claire Mazumdar, Ph.D., to Board of Directors
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., June 11, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Relay Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: RLAY), a clinical-stage precision medicine company transforming the drug discovery process by combining leading-edge computational and experimental technologies, today announced the appointment of Claire Mazumdar, Ph.D., to the Company's Board of Directors, effective June 9, 2025. 'It is a privilege to welcome Claire to our Board, where she will draw from her strategic and operational experience in clinical-stage oncology to offer guidance as we prepare to initiate our Phase 3 ReDiscover-2 trial in breast cancer soon,' said Sanjiv Patel, M.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Relay Therapeutics. Dr. Mazumdar is the founding Chief Executive Officer of Bicara Therapeutics (Nasdaq: BCAX), a clinical-stage oncology company. Prior to Bicara, Dr. Mazumdar led business development and corporate strategy at Rheos Medicines, where she supported the precision medicine company's global partnership with Roche Pharmaceuticals. Earlier in her career, she held a position at Third Rock Ventures, where she focused on company formation and business development. She holds a B.S. in biological engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and earned both an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business and a Ph.D. in cancer biology from Stanford School of Medicine. About Relay Therapeutics Relay Therapeutics (Nasdaq: RLAY) is a clinical-stage precision medicine company transforming the drug discovery process by combining leading-edge computational and experimental technologies with the goal of bringing life-changing therapies to patients. As the first of a new breed of biotech created at the intersection of complementary techniques and technologies, Relay Therapeutics aims to push the boundaries of what's possible in drug discovery. Its Dynamo® platform integrates an array of leading-edge computational and experimental approaches designed to drug protein targets that have previously been intractable or inadequately addressed. Relay Therapeutics' initial focus is on enhancing small molecule therapeutic discovery in targeted oncology and genetic disease indications. For more information, please visit or follow us on Twitter. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended, including, without limitation, implied and express statements regarding Relay Therapeutics' strategy, business plans and focus; the progress and timing of the clinical development of the programs across Relay Therapeutics' portfolio; the expected therapeutic benefits and potential efficacy and tolerability of RLY-2608, both as a monotherapy and in combination with other agents, and its other programs, as well as the clinical data for RLY-2608; the interactions with regulatory authorities and any related approvals; the potential market opportunity for RLY-2608; the cash runway projection; the expected benefits resulting from the implementation of the cost saving measures and potential ability to fund key value drivers; and the expectations regarding Relay Therapeutics' use of capital and expenses. The words 'may,' 'might,' 'will,' 'could,' 'would,' 'should,' 'plan,' 'anticipate,' 'intend,' 'believe,' 'expect,' 'estimate,' 'seek,' 'predict,' 'future,' 'project,' 'potential,' 'continue,' 'target' and similar words or expressions, or the negative thereof, are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Any forward-looking statements in this press release are based on management's current expectations and beliefs and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and important factors that may cause actual events or results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by any forward-looking statements contained in this press release, including, without limitation, risks associated with: Relay Therapeutics' restructuring activities may be more costly or time-consuming than we expect or may not achieve their intended results; the timing, execution, and expected impact of Relay Therapeutics' restructuring plans (including the scope and timing of workforce reductions); the expected decrease in annual spending; the expected sufficiency of Relay Therapeutics' existing cash resources; the internal and external costs required for Relay Therapeutics' ongoing and planned activities, and the resulting impact on expense and use of cash, may be higher than expected, which may cause the company to use cash more quickly than expected or to change or curtail some of Relay Therapeutics' plans or both; the impact of global economic uncertainty, geopolitical instability and conflicts, or public health epidemics or outbreaks of an infectious disease on countries or regions in which Relay Therapeutics has operations or does business, as well as on the timing and anticipated results of its clinical trials, strategy, future operations and profitability; significant political, trade, or regulatory developments, such as tariffs, beyond Relay Therapeutics' control; the delay or pause of any current or planned clinical trials or the development of Relay Therapeutics' drug candidates; the risk that the preliminary or interim results of its preclinical or clinical trials may not be predictive of future or final results in connection with future clinical trials of its product candidates and that interim and early clinical data may change as more patient data become available and are subject to audit and verification procedures; Relay Therapeutics' ability to successfully demonstrate the safety and efficacy of its drug candidates; the timing and outcome of its planned interactions with regulatory authorities; and obtaining, maintaining and protecting its intellectual property. These and other risks and uncertainties are described in greater detail in the section entitled 'Risk Factors' in Relay Therapeutics' most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, as well as any subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In addition, any forward-looking statements represent Relay Therapeutics' views only as of today and should not be relied upon as representing its views as of any subsequent date. Relay Therapeutics explicitly disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements. No representations or warranties (expressed or implied) are made about the accuracy of any such forward-looking statements. Contact:Pete Rahmerprahmer@ Media:Dan Budwick1AB973-271-6085dan@
