"However, this type of prophylactc vaccines are completely inappropriate, and even highly dangerous,
when used in mass vaccinaton campaigns during a viral pandemic."
Geert Vanden Bossche, DMV, PhD, independent virologist and vaccine expert, formerly employed at
GAVI and The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundaton.
To all authorites, scientsts and experts around the world, to whom this concerns: the entre world
populaton.
I am all but an antvaxxer. As a scientst I do not usually appeal to any platorm of this kind to make a
stand on vaccine-related topics. As a dedicated virologist and vaccine expert I only make an excepton
when health authorites allow vaccines to be administered in ways that threaten public health, most
certainly when scientfc evidence is being ignored. The present extremely critcal situaton forces me to
spread this emergency call. As the unprecedented extent of human interventon in the Covid-19-
pandemic is now at risk of resultng in a global catastrophe without equal, this call cannot sound loudly
and strongly enough.
As stated, I am not against vaccinaton. On the contrary, I can assure you that each of the current
vaccines have been designed, developed and manufactured by brilliant and competent scientsts.
However, this type of prophylactc vaccines are completely inappropriate, and even highly dangerous,
when used in mass vaccinaton campaigns during a viral pandemic. Vaccinologists, scientsts and
clinicians are blinded by the positve short-term efects in individual patents, but don’t seem to bother
about the disastrous consequences for global health. Unless I am scientfcally proven wrong, it is difcult
to understand how current human interventons will prevent circulatng variants from turning into a wild
monster.
Racing against the clock, I am completng my scientfc manuscript, the publicaton of which is,
unfortunately, likely to come too late given the ever increasing threat from rapidly spreading, highly
infectous variants. This is why I decided to already post a summary of my fndings as well as my keynote
speech at the recent Vaccine Summit in Ohio on LinkedIn. Last Monday, I provided internatonal health
organizatons, including the WHO, with my analysis of the current pandemic as based on scientfcally
informed insights in the immune biology of Covid-19. Given the level of emergency, I urged them to
consider my concerns and to initate a debate on the detrimental consequences of further ‘viral immune
escape’. For those who are no experts in this feld, I am ataching below a more accessible and
comprehensible version of the science behind this insidious phenomenon.
While there is no tme to spare, I have not received any feedback thus far. Experts and politcians have
remained silent while obviously stll eager to talk about relaxing infecton preventon rules and
'springtme freedom'. My statements are based on nothing else but science. They shall only be
contradicted by science. While one can barely make any incorrect scientfc statements without being
critcized by peers, it seems like the elite of scientsts who are currently advising our world leaders prefer
to stay silent. Sufcient scientfc evidence has been brought to the table. Unfortunately, it remains
untouched by those who have the power to act. How long can one ignore the problem when there is at
present massive evidence that viral immune escape is now threatening humanity? We can hardly say we
didn't know - or were not warned.
In this agonizing leter I put all of my reputaton and credibility at stake. I expect from you, guardians of
mankind, at least the same. It is of utmost urgency. Do open the debate. By all means: turn the tde!
Author: Geert Vanden Bossche, DVM, PhD (March 6, 2021) – https://www.linkedin.com/in/geertvandenbossche/PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY OF INTERNATIONAL CONCERN
Why mass vaccinaton amidst a pandemic creates an irrepressible monster
THE key queston is: why does nobody seem to bother about viral immune escape? Let me try to explain
this by means of a more easily understood phenomenon: Antmicrobial resistance. One can easily
extrapolate this scourge to resistance to our self-made ‘antviral antbiotcs’. Indeed, antbodies (Abs)
produced by our own immune system can be considered self-made antviral antbiotcs, regardless of
whether they are part of our innate immune system (so-called ‘natural’ Abs’) or elicited in response to
specifc pathogens (resultng in so-called ‘acquired’ Abs). Natural Abs are not germ-specifc whereas
acquired Abs are specifcally directed at the invading pathogen. At birth, our innate immune system is
‘unexperienced’ but well-established. It protects us from a multtude of pathogens, thereby preventng
these pathogens from causing disease. As the innate immune system cannot remember the pathogens it
encountered (innate immunity has no so-called ‘immunological memory’), we can only contnue to rely
on it provided we keep it ‘trained’ well enough. Training is achieved by regular exposure to a myriad of
environmental agents, including pathogens. However, as we age, we will increasingly face situatons
where our innate immunity (ofen called ‘the frst line of immune defense’) is not strong enough to halt
the pathogen at the portal of entry (mostly mucosal barriers like respiratory or intestnal epithelia).
When this happens, the immune system has to rely on more specialized efectors of our immune system
(i.e., antgen-specifc Abs and T cells) to fght the pathogen. So, as we grow up, we increasingly mount
pathogen-specifc immunity, including highly specifc Abs. As those have stronger afnity for the
pathogen (e.g., virus) and can reach high concentratons, they can quite easily outcompete our natural
Abs for binding to the pathogen/virus. It is precisely this type of highly specifc, high afnity Abs that
current Covid-19 vaccines are inducing. Of course, the noble purpose of these Abs is to protect us against
Covid-19. So, why then should there be a major concern using these vaccines to fght Covid-19?
Well, similar to the rules applying to classical antmicrobial antbiotcs, it is paramount that our self-made
‘antviral antbiotcs’ are made available in sufcient concentraton and are tailored at the specifc
features of our enemy. This is why in case of bacterial disease it is critcal to not only chose the right type
of antbiotc (based on the results from an antbiogram) but to also take the antbiotc for long enough
(according to the prescripton). Failure to comply with these requirements is at risk of grantng microbes
a chance to survive and hence, may cause the disease to fare up. A very similar mechanism may also
apply to viruses, especially to viruses that can easily and rapidly mutate (which is, for example, the case
with Coronaviruses); when the pressure exerted by the army’s (read: populaton’s) immune defense
starts to threaten viral replicaton and transmission, the virus will take on another coat so that it can no
longer be easily recognized and, therefore, atacked by the host immune system. The virus is now able to
escape immunity (so-called: ‘immune escape’). However, the virus can only rely on this strategy provided
it stll has room enough to replicate. Viruses, in contrast to the majority of bacteria, must rely on living
host cells to replicate. This is why the occurrence of ‘escape mutants’ isn’t too worrisome as long as the
likelihood for these variants to rapidly fnd another host is quite remote. However, that’s not partcularly
the case during a viral pandemic! During a pandemic, the virus is spreading all over the globe with many
subjects shedding and transmitng the virus (even including asymptomatc ‘carriers’). The higher the
viral load, the higher the likelihood for the virus to bump into subjects who haven’t been infected yet or
who were infected but didn’t develop symptoms. Unless they are sufciently protected by their innate
immune defense (through natural Abs), they will catch Covid-19 disease as they cannot rely on other,
i.e., acquired Abs. It has been extensively reported, indeed, that the increase in S (spike)-specifc Abs in
Author: Geert Vanden Bossche, DVM, PhD (March 6, 2021) – https://www.linkedin.com/in/geertvandenbossche/asymptomatcally infected people is rather limited and only short-lived. Furthermore, these Abs have not
achieved full maturity. The combinaton of viral infecton on a background of suboptmal Ab maturity and
concentraton enables the virus to select mutatons allowing it to escape the immune pressure. The
selecton of those mutatons preferably occurs in the S protein as this is the viral protein that is
responsible for viral infectousness. As the selected mutatons endow the virus with increased infectous
capacity, it now becomes much easier for the virus to cause severe disease in infected subjects. The
more people develop symptomatc disease, the beter the virus can secure its propagaton and
perpetuaton (people who get severe disease will shed more virus and for a longer period of tme than
asymptomatcally infected subjects do). Unfortunately enough, the short-lived rise in S-specifc Abs does,
however, sufce to bypass people’s innate/natural Ab. Those are put out of business as their afnity for S
is lower than the afnity of S-specifc Abs. This is to say that with an increasing rate of infecton in the
populaton, the number of subjects who get infected while experiencing a momentary increase in Sspecifc Abs will steadily increase. Consequently, the number of subjects who get infected while
experiencing a momentary decrease in their innate immunity will increase. As a result, a steadily
increasing number of subjects will become more susceptble to getng severe disease instead of showing
only mild symptoms (i.e., limited to the upper respiratory tract) or no symptoms at all. During a
pandemic, especially youngsters will be afected by this evoluton as their natural Abs are not yet largely
suppressed by a panoply of ‘acquired’, antgen-specifc Abs. Natural Abs, and natural immunity in
general, play a critcal role in protectng us from pathogens as they consttute our frst line of immune
defense. In contrast to acquired immunity, innate immune responses protect against a large spectrum of
pathogens (so don’t compromise or sacrifce your innate immune defense!). Because natural Abs and
innate immune cells recognize a diversifed spectrum of foreign (i.e., non-self) agents (only some of
which have pathogenic potental), it’s important, indeed, to keep it sufciently exposed to environmental
challenges. By keeping the innate immune system (which, unfortunately, has no memory!) TRAINED, we
can much more easily resist germs which have real pathogenic potental. It has, for example, been
reported and scientfcally proven that exposure to other, quite harmless Coronaviruses causing a
‘common cold ’ can provide protecton, although short-lived, against Covid-19 and its loyal henchmen
(i.e., the more infectous variants).
Suppression of innate immunity, especially in the younger age groups, can, therefore, become very
problematc. There can be no doubt that lack of exposure due to stringent containment measures
implemented as of the beginning of the pandemic has not been benefcial to keeping people’s innate
immune system well trained. As if this was not already heavily compromising innate immune defense in
this populaton segment, there comes yet another force into play that will dramatcally enhance
morbidity and mortality rates in the younger age groups: MASS VACCINATION of the ELDERLY. The more
extensively the later age group will be vaccinated and hence, protected, the more the virus is forced to
contnue causing disease in younger age groups. This is only going to be possible provided it escapes to
the S-specifc Abs that are momentarily raised in previously asymptomatcally infected subjects. If the
virus manages to do so, it can beneft from the (momentarily) suppressed innate immunity, thereby
causing disease in an increasing number of these subjects and ensuring its own propagaton. Selectng
targeted mutatons in the S protein is, therefore, the way to go in order for the virus to enhance its
infectousness in candidates that are prone to getng the disease because of a transient weakness of
their innate immune defense.
But in the meantme, we’re also facing a huge problem in vaccinated people as they’re now more and
more confronted with infectous variants displaying a type of S protein that is increasingly diferent from
Author: Geert Vanden Bossche, DVM, PhD (March 6, 2021) – https://www.linkedin.com/in/geertvandenbossche/the S editon comprised with the vaccine (the later editon originates from the original, much less
infectous strain at the beginning of the pandemic). The more variants become infectous (i.e., as a result
of blocking access of the virus to the vaccinated segment of the populaton), the less vaccinal Abs will
protect. Already now, lack of protecton is leading to viral shedding and transmission in vaccine
recipients who are exposed to these more infectous strains (which, by the way, increasingly dominate
the feld). This is how we are currently turning vaccinees into asymptomatc carriers shedding infectous
variants.
At some point, in a likely very near future, it’s going to become more proftable (in term of ‘return on
selecton investment’) for the virus to just add another few mutatons (maybe just one or two) to the S
protein of viral variants (already endowed with multple mutatons enhancing infectousness) in an
atempt to further strengthen its binding to the receptor (ACE-2) expressed on the surface of permissive
epithelial cells. This will now allow the new variant to outcompete vaccinal Abs for binding to the ACE
receptor. This is to say that at this stage, it would only take very few additonal targeted mutatons
within the viral receptor-binding domain to fully resist S-specifc ant-Covid-19 Abs, regardless whether
the later are elicited by the vaccine or by natural infecton. At that stage, the virus will, indeed, have
managed to gain access to a huge reservoir of subjects who have now become highly susceptble to
disease as their S-specifc Abs have now become useless in terms of protecton but stll manage to
provide for long-lived suppression of their innate immunity (i.e., natural infecton, and especially
vaccinaton, elicit relatvely long-lived specifc Ab tters). The susceptble reservoir comprises both,
vaccinated people and those who’re lef with sufcient S-specifc Abs due to previous Covid-19 disease).
So, MISSION ACCOMPLISHED for Covid-19 but a DISASTROUS SITUATION for all vaccinated subjects and
Covid-19 seropositve people as they’ve now lost both, their acquired and innate immune defense
against Covid-19 (while highly infectous strains are circulatng!). That’s ‘one small step for the virus, one
giant catastrophe for mankind’, which is to say that we’ll have whipped up the virus in the younger
populaton up to a level that it now takes litle efort for Covid-19 to transform into a highly infectous
virus that completely ignores both the innate arm of our immune system as well as the
adaptve/acquired one (regardless of whether the acquired Abs resulted from vaccinaton or natural
infecton). The efort for the virus is now becoming even more negligible given that many vaccine
recipients are now exposed to highly infectous viral variants while having received only a single shot of
the vaccine. Hence, they are endowed with Abs that have not yet acquired optmal functonality. There is
no need to explain that this is just going to further enhance immune escape. Basically, we’ll very soon be
confronted with a super-infectous virus that completely resists our most precious defense mechanism:
The human immune system.
From all of the above, it’s becoming increasingly difcult to imagine how the consequences of the
extensive and erroneous human interventon in this pandemic are not going to wipe out large parts of
our human populaton. One could only think of very few other strategies to achieve the same level of
efciency in turning a relatvely harmless virus into a bioweapon of mass destructon.
It’s certainly also worth mentoning that mutatons in the S protein (i.e., exactly the same protein that is
subject to selecton of escape mutatons) are known to enable Coronaviruses to cross species barriers.
This is to say that the risk that vaccine-mediated immune escape could allow the virus to jump to other
animal species, especially industrial livestock (e.g., pig and poultry farms), is not negligible. These species
are already known to host several diferent Coronaviruses and are usually housed in farms with high
stocking density. Similar to the situaton with infuenza virus, these species could than serve as an
Author: Geert Vanden Bossche, DVM, PhD (March 6, 2021) – https://www.linkedin.com/in/geertvandenbossche/additonal reservoir for SARS-COVID-2 virus.
As pathogens have co-evolved with the host immune system, natural pandemics of acute self-limitng
viral infectons have been shaped such as to take a toll on human lives that is not higher than strictly
required. Due to human interventon, the course of this pandemic has been thoroughly disturbed as of
the very beginning. Widespread and stringent infecton preventon measures combined with mass
vaccinaton campaigns using inadequate vaccines will undoubtedly lead to a situaton where the
pandemic is getng increasingly ‘out of control’.
Paradoxically, the only interventon that could ofer a perspectve to end this pandemic (other than to let
it run its disastrous course) is …VACCINATION. Of course, the type of vaccines to be used would be
completely diferent of conventonal vaccines in that they’re not inducing the usual suspects, i.e., B and T
cells, but NK cells. There is, indeed, compelling scientfc evidence that these cells play a key role in
facilitatng complete eliminaton of Covid-19 at an early stage of infecton in asymptomatcally infected
subjects. NK cells are part of the cellular arm of our innate immune system and, alike natural Abs, they
are capable of recognizing and atacking a broad and diversifed spectrum of pathogenic agents. There is
a sound scientfc ratonale to assume that it is possible to ‘prime’ NK cells in ways for them to recognize
and kill Coronaviruses at large (include all their variants) at an early stage of infecton. NK cells have
increasingly been described to be endowed with the capacity to acquire immunological memory. By
educatng these cells in ways that enable them to durably recognize and target Coronavirus-infected
cells, our immune system could be perfectly armed for a targeted atack to the universe of Coronaviruses
prior to exposure. As NK cell-based immune defense provides sterilizing immunity and allows for broadspectrum and fast protecton, it is reasonable to assume that harnessing our innate immune cells is going
to be the only type of human interventon lef to halt the dangerous spread of highly infectous Covid-19
variants.
If we, human beings, are commited to perpetuatng our species, we have no choice lef but to eradicate
these highly infectous viral variants. This will, indeed, require large vaccinaton campaigns. However, NK
cell-based vaccines will primarily enable our natural immunity to be beter prepared (memory!) and to
induce herd immunity (which is exactly the opposite of what current Covid-19 vaccines do as those
increasingly turn vaccine recipients into asymptomatc carriers who are shedding virus). So, there is not
one second lef for gears to be switched and to replace the current killer vaccines by life-saving vaccines.
I am appealing to the WHO and all stakeholders involved, no mater their convicton, to immediately
declare such acton as THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY OF INTERNATIONAL
CONCERN.
Author: Geert Vanden Bossche, DVM, PhD (March 6, 2021) – https://www.linkedin.com/in/geertvandenbossche
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