Opinion: ‘Post-vaccination syndrome’: a dubious diagnosis that could do harm
The science behind the “post-vaccination syndrome” study is dubious — but the harm it may cause is very real.
Recently, the notorious conspiracy theory peddler Alex Jones shared an “Infowars” video on X lambasting the “horrific side effects” of Covid vaccines: “Yale scientists link COVID vaccines to alarming new syndrome causing distinct biological changes to the body,” his post read. News of the new study spread like wildfire throughout right-wing anti-vaccine circles, amplified by the likes of Alex Berenson, Elon Musk, and Joe Rogan, who touted the study as yet more proof the public had been lied to about all things Covid.
Surely bolstering their case was the fact that this particular study — an analysis linking Covid vaccination to a so-called “post-vaccination syndrome” (PVS) with immunological changes — was led by prestigious Yale scientists and covered by the New York Times. The ecstatic response to the research among anti-vaccine activists was also driven by the fact that it seemingly vindicated a very specific theory that has been rampant in those circles for years: that Covid vaccines were driving chronic disease through production of dangerous “spike” protein that infiltrated the body.
