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The German Federal Ministry of Health (BMG) on Wednesday posted a “stunning tweet” admitting 1 of every 5,000 COVID-19 vaccinations cause “serious side effects.”

Although likely an “underestimation” due to voluntary reporting, according to Alex Berenson, the admission implies almost 300,000 Americans and Europeans have experienced a severe adverse event after receiving a Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine.

German Ministry of Health tweet

Translated, the tweet says, “One in 5000 people is affected by a serious side effect after a COVID19 vaccination. If you suspect an adverse reaction, get medical attention and report your symptoms to @PEI_Germany.”

The Paul Ehrlich Institute (PEI), which uses the handle “@PEI-Germany” is Germany’s federal institute for vaccines and biomedical drugs.

The figure came from a PEI safety report summarizing suspected cases of side effects and vaccination complications that were reported to PEI between Dec. 27, 2020, when Germany launched its vaccination campaign, and March 31, 2022.

During that time, 172,062,925 vaccinations were administered in Germany — of those, 17.1% were Spikevax, 7.4% were AstraZeneca, 2.1% were Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) and 0.1% were Novavax.

During the same time period, PEI received 296,233 reports of suspected side effects. The reporting rate was 1.7 per 1,000 vaccine doses for all vaccines combined and 0.2 serious reaction reports per 1,000 doses.

So, the 1 in 5,000 people experiencing a serious reaction is actually 1 in 5,000 doses.

PEI on Thursday corrected its tweet to reflect accurate numbers. According to @PEI_Germany, “the reporting rate for serious reactions is 0.2 reports per 1,000 vaccine doses,” the Tweet read.

“The German admission today marks at least a small — and long overdue — step toward honesty from public health authorities on the COVID jabs,” said Berenson, a New York Times bestselling author who writes regularly on Substack.

Reacting to the updated tweet from Germany’s Health Ministry, one person said, “It’s even worse, it’s 1 DOSE, not one in 5,000 people …”

Another person tweeted, “Not severe in 1 person in 5000. 1 in 5000 doses was a heavy effect. So: If you have 2 doses, your risk is even higher.”

“It comes down to the same thing! 1 report per 5,000 doses = 0.2 report per 1,000 doses! Makes at least 38,000 severe cases! Dark figure unknown! Incomprehensible!” another tweeted.

“Can you explain then why the benefits in children and young adults should outweigh the costs?” another asked.

Germany seeks to identify previously unknown risks of COVID vaccines

According to Euro Weekly News, Germany’s Health Ministry announced the numbers because it’s forming a new COVID-19 vaccine adverse reaction registry seeking to identify previously unknown risks after vaccination.

According to data from PEI, more side effects were reported following Novavax, with AstraZeneca, J&J, Moderna and Pfizer’s Comirnaty following respectively.

suspected cases vaccinations

The reporting rate for adverse events was lower after booster shots when compared with primary vaccination.

reported cases vaccine dose

According to PEI, the reported rate of frequent adverse reactions include myocarditis (1.3 cases per 100,000 people), tachycardia (8.19 cases) and lymphadenopathy (11.52 cases).

reporting rate vaccinations

Approximately 1% (2,810) of cases resulted in death, 4% of cases reported permanent damage, 33% had not recovered during the reporting window and 14% were unknown.

By the end of the reporting period, 31% had recovered and 17% were improving.

figure 4 outcome suspected side effect reports

A total of 5,862 suspected adverse reactions were reported in children and adolescents.

Of the 5,862 reports, 186 suspected adverse reactions occurred in children under 5, and 124 occurred in children between ages 15 months and 4 years old.

Sixty-one suspected adverse reactions were reported in infants whose mothers were vaccinated while breastfeeding. There was one report of a newborn dying on the day of birth but it was determined to be unrelated to the shot.

Source for the four charts: The Naked Emperor’s Newsletter substack.