A 62-year-old man who, for private reasons, elected to hypervaccinate, rolling up his sleeves for 217 COVID-19 shots, did not experience any adverse reactions, nor did it boost his immune system more than normal doses of the shot, according to research published March 4 in The Lancet.
The man, a resident of Magdeburg, Germany, received the vaccines all within a 29-month period. It originated outside of clinical study context and against vaccination protocols, but was studied after the individual's vaccinations were confirmed with records. The volume of vaccines given to one individual initially sparked a criminal investigation, but charges were not filed when no fraudulent activity was found.
Throughout the entire 29-month time frame between November 2019 to December 2023, the individual not only did not report any adverse side effects, but also never fell ill with COVID-19, according to the study.
"While we found no signs of SARS-CoV-2 breakthrough infections in [the patient] to date, it cannot be clarified whether this is causally related to the hypervaccination regimen," the researchers wrote. "Importantly, we do not endorse hypervaccination as a strategy to enhance adaptive immunity."
The extra vaccinations, according to researchers, provided about the same immunity protection as those who received the standard vaccine regimen.