New “adapted” corona vaccines have arrived and, as expected, the advertising drum is already being played. STIKO stands by its recommendations and calls on people aged 60 and older, those aged six months and older with certain previous illnesses and health workers to get the next booster. As a recently published study shows, the latter are particularly likely to pose a real threat to the unstable German health system.
the study “Inability to work after COVID-19 vaccination – a relevant aspect for future booster vaccination” By Reusch et al. Published in the September issue of “Public Health” and available online August 8. They analyzed sick leave among health care workers (HCWs) after corona vaccination showed that each vaccination caused significant loss of staff – an effect that increased with each vaccination dose. The summary of the study is as follows (translated into German):
abstract
Target
COVID-19 vaccination is an important prevention strategy to reduce the spread and severity of SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, the inability of health workers to vaccinate may place a burden on health care systems.
studydesign
The presented study was conducted as part of the prospective CoVacSer cohort study.
methods
This study examined sickness absence and pro-re-nata medication use after the first, second and third COVID-19 vaccination among HCWs. Data were collected using electronic questionnaires.
Result
Of the 1704 enrolled HCWs, 595 (34.9%) HCWs were on sick leave after at least one COVID-19 vaccination, which equates to a total of 1550 sick days. Both the number of completed sick days and the rate of HCWs on sick leave increased significantly with each additional vaccination. When comparing BNT162b2mRNA and mRNA-1273, the difference in disease absence after the second dose was not significant, but mRNA-1273 resulted in significantly longer and more frequent disease absence after the third dose.
Diploma
With further waves of COVID-19 infections and booster vaccinations, there is a risk of further staff shortages due to inefficiencies following vaccination, which could negatively impact an already stressed health care system and jeopardize patient care. Could. These findings will support further vaccination campaigns to reduce the impact of staff shortages on the health care system.
Quayle (Reusch et al. 2023)
health system overload
The study itself is hidden behind a payment barrier, but it is available online as a preprint study from November 2022. The results are congruent, changes in substance are minimal. The study in question was financed by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research and through funding for COVID research. The preprint study’s conclusion was quite harsh at the time:
Given further waves of COVID-19 infections and booster vaccinations, there is a risk of additional workforce shortages due to inability to work after vaccination. Which can place an excessive burden on health care systems and jeopardize patient care.
Quayle (Reusch et al. 2022, preprint)
Perhaps it was these harsh conclusions that led to the study, despite its importance, ultimately not being published for several months. At this point it should be remembered that the corona vaccination requirement for healthcare workers in Germany (“facility-related vaccination requirement”) only ends at the beginning of 2023: Research work essentially shows that this measure not only “protects “The overloading of the health system by Covid with a made-up virus was actually harmful.
In discussion of the preprint study, it was claimed at the time that the results could not be used as an argument for non-vaccination because sick leave due to COVID-19 tends to last longer. However, this claim is questionable or even false as it was “proven” by a small study that only found that a London hospital had a comparatively higher rate of disease between March 16 and April 26, 2020 (!). The rate was. However, the data analyzed did not contain any information about the reasons for the failures: it also included voluntary isolation after contact with test-positive people (as well as cases of illness without any COVID-19 associated with it) .
Furthermore, Reusch et al. Elsewhere in 2022, vaccinations intended to prevent infection among health workers have, as is well known, not been able to do so at all. The entire mandatory corona vaccination across the world was based on lies spread by politicians. Because health care workers are naturally rarely seniors with previous serious illnesses, COVID-19 does not pose a significant risk to them: There were no serious illnesses here and are not expected to be. It has always been isolation measures that have put the workforce in additional jeopardy during the so-called pandemic. Isolation measures – and vaccination, as this study shows.
