Autoimmune Disease, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Neurological Complications Linked to COVID Vaccine: Journal 'Current Medical Research and Opinion'
Study authors question vaccine effectiveness after finding nearly 1/3rd of vaccinated participants "experienced a subsequent COVID-19 infection."
A pre-print version of a study made available online Tuesday in Current Medical Research and Opinion found an association between COVID-19 vaccination and the development of chronic illnesses, including autoimmune diseases and rheumatoid arthritis.
The study authors noted that individuals living in Jordan who had been recently diagnosed with chronic illnesses expressed concerns about COVID-19 vaccines.
The authors aimed to investigate “potential associations between COVID-19 vaccination and the likelihood of recipients developing chronic conditions such as autoimmune diseases, rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, asthma, and hypertension.”
The study, approved by the Institutional Review Board at Amman Arab University, involved 414 participants, 10.4% of whom already had pre-existing chronic diseases before vaccination.
Participants were more than 18 years old and had received vaccination between 2020–2023.
However, the researchers discovered that more than 23% of participants acquired new chronic illnesses, indicating a “significant correlation” with COVID vaccination.
“Remarkably, post-vaccination, 23.7% of participants were newly diagnosed with chronic illnesses,” the authors write. “Statistical analysis indicated a significant correlation between COVID-19 vaccination and the subsequent development of chronic diseases (p-value ˂ 0.01).”
They confirm that “an association was found between COVID-19 vaccination and the development of autoimmune diseases and rheumatoid arthritis (p-value ˂ 0.01).”
The authors emphasized “the necessity for further research to ascertain potential causal relationship.”
Short-Term Vaccine Side Effects
Vaccinated participants suffered from “many” short-term side effects, the most common including fatigue and insomnia followed by headache and fever.
The authors remarked how their findings “hint” that the vaccines trigger “neurological complications.”
“Remarkably, our study also highlights the elevated prevalence of insomnia, akin to general fatigue, hinting at neurological implications,” they write, “[w]arranting future in-depth exploration of these symptoms in the context of post-vaccination effects and their potential link to the syndrome.”
Long-Term Vaccine Side Effects
Long-term side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine included an “increase in the incidence of chronic morbidities in general” as well as “an association between the occurrence of autoimmune diseases and rheumatoid arthritis and COVID-19 vaccine.”
The study authors concluded that there was “an important association between COVID-19 vaccine and autoimmune diseases that should be taken into consideration in clinical practice or for future investigations.”
More than 1/3rd of COVID-Vaccinated Patients Still Catch COVID-19
Moreover, they noted their “surprise” that a significant number of individuals in the vaccinated group still came down with COVID-19, and called into question the vaccine’s efficacy.
“Surprisingly, even after being vaccinated, 29% (n = 120) of the participants experienced a subsequent COVID-19 infection,” they write. “[T]he occurrence of subsequent infections post-vaccination raises questions about the vaccine’s effectiveness against certain strains or the persistence of immunity over time.”
The majority of the study participants (64.3%, n = 266) received two vaccine doses, while a smaller proportion (n = 94, 7.5%) received three doses, and a minority (n = 23, 5.6%) received only one dose.
The predominant version of the COVID vaccine taken among the Jordanian population was Pfizer-BioNTech (56%), followed by SinoPharm (25.1%), AstraZeneca (10.4%), and Moderna (1.0%).
“Notable Association” Between COVID Vaccine and Chronic Disease
While the authors’ research did not confirm a “causal connection” between the COVID-19 vaccine and these chronic diseases, they affirm “there was a notable association towards their development post-vaccination, substantiated by our statistical analysis.”
“This aligns with earlier research that has raised concerns about infrequent COVID-19 vaccine side effects, such as hypertension,” they explain. “Contemporary research underscores the emergence of autoimmune post-COVID vaccine syndromes, mirroring our primary finding that participants displayed a significant propensity to develop autoimmune diseases and rheumatoid arthritis post-vaccination.”
Vaccinated Refuse to Take More Vaccines
Interestingly, the study took note of the participants’ “quite low” satisfaction and perceptions of their vaccination experience.
The sentiment made them not want to get vaccinated again.
“[T]he results are rather concerning,” the authors commented. “The levels of satisfaction were quite low, and a significant proportion of participants expressed reservations about getting vaccinated again or perceived negative impacts on their daily routines.”
The authors were affiliated with the Department of Pharmacy at Amman Arab University in Jordan.