The world-renowned virologist, Dr. Geert Vanden Bosshe exclusively for MIA: When the Trojan Horse Becomes the Elephant in the Room: Hidden Dynamics of Vaccine Associated Viral Immune Escape 

Geert Vanden Bossche is a Belgian virologist and veterinarian (DVM, PhD), known for his work in the field of vaccinology and immunology. 

He has worked for pharmaceutical companies and organizations such as GSK Biologicals, Novartis Vaccines, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and GAVI (Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization).

He is the founder of Compliant & Efficient Immunization Solution (CEIS), where he as an independent expert on vaccines and immunization strategies.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, he became known for his critical views on mass vaccination. He warned that vaccination during the spread of the virus could lead to the emergence of stronger, resistant variants. These views have caused a lot of controversy among scientists.

This is a sublimated text from his latest analysis, which was exclusively provided to us by Dr. Vanden Bossche.

-        COVID-19 (C-19) vaccines were rolled out worldwide with the promise of ending the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. While they provided temporary protection against severe disease, they were unable to block infection or transmission. This has led to an unintended consequence: instead of stopping the virus, mass vaccination has created strong pressure on the virus to adapt.

Why this matters 

• Natural immunity vs. vaccine immunity: Natural infection trains both arms of the immune system−antibodies (Abs) and natural (i.e., innate) killer cells−to quickly eliminate the virus. C-19 vaccines, by contrast, mainly stimulated Abs and some T cell responses, but not the full innate defense.

• No herd immunity: Because the C-19 vaccines did not prevent infection, herd immunity (where the virus can no longer spread in the community) could not develop. This left the virus with space to evolve.

What is happening now

• Vaccine breakthrough infections (VBTIs): In highly C-19 vaccinated populations, repeated reinfections are common. Many individuals, particularly C-19 vaccinees, develop long-lasting or chronic infections (long COVID), which give the virus time to mutate within a host.

• These intra-host mutations create hidden viral versions (cryptic’ variants), often detectable only in wastewater. Over time, these variants converge on the same survival strategy: resisting immune responses in C-19 vaccinees that increasingly rely on pro-inflammatory T cells.

• As these immune escape variants can now spread across highly C-19 vaccinated populations, they displace older ones and thereby change the viral landscape. The result is a narrower set of co-circulating viral strains that use the same immune-evasive tricks to increase their transmissibility, making them harder to control by the adaptive immune system.

Why this is a global concern 

High infectiousness no longer means low severity. A popular belief is that viruses naturally evolve to become milder. The opposite may now happen, because chronic infections and immune pressure can drive the virus to blunt the cell-mediated adaptive immune response, enabling it to spread more easily and thereby promoting more widespread viral immune escape and, hence, more chronic infection.

The manuscript warns that ongoing immune escape could eventually produce a highly virulent strain, nicknamed HIVICRON. This variant would be able to bypass both Abs and T cell defenses, spreading throughout the body rather than staying localized to the airways. Such a shift could trigger widespread severe illness and sudden deaths in highly C-19 vaccinated populations. 16 Unequal impact: In healthy unvaccinated people, the body’s first line of defense−the innate immune system−has been well trained through repeated natural exposure to the virus. By contrast, in many C-19 vaccinated individuals this training was bypassed since the non replicating C-19 vaccines and later VBTIs did not properly strengthen it. As a result, unvaccinated people with strong innate immunity are better protected against C-19 disease while many C-19 vaccinees can no longer rely fully on either their untrained innate immunity or their weakened adaptive immunity.

Key takeaway 

Mass vaccination against COVID-19 has set the stage for a long-term crisis. By failing to generate herd immunity and instead fueling viral immune escape, large-scale use of the C-19 vaccines transformed the pandemic from one of acute, self-limiting disease into an immune escape pandemic of chronic disease, thereby paving the way for SARS-CoV-2 to suddenly escalate its infectiousness and virulence.

Branka D. Najdovska