Fact Check: Unpacking the Spike Protein Debate (2025)
Introduction
The rapid development and deployment of COVID-19 vaccines have been monumental
in combating the global pandemic, saving countless lives and enabling
societies to regain a sense of normalcy. Central to the efficacy of many of
these vaccines, particularly mRNA and viral vector-based ones, is the spike
protein—a key component of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that facilitates its entry
into human cells. By instructing the body to produce a version of this
protein, vaccines train the immune system to recognize and neutralize the
virus without causing illness. However, as vaccination campaigns expanded, so
did public curiosity and concern about the spike protein's role, fueled by a
mix of scientific complexity, misinformation, and distrust.
This article aims to cut through the noise by providing a fact-based exploration of the spike protein in COVID-19 vaccines. Drawing on peer-reviewed studies, expert insights, and data from health authorities, we unpack common claims, clarify the science behind the spike protein's function, and address lingering myths. Our goal is to empower readers with accurate, accessible information to make informed decisions in an era where misinformation can spread as swiftly as the virus itself.
How do you know 'What’s Fact and What’s Opinion' in an article or a social media post? It’s easy to know whether an article is biased, what’s opinion and what is fact-based by actually checking the original sources and references that accompany every claim within an article or a social media post.Spike Protein and Disease (September 2025)
Dr. Peter McCullough’s X Post (March 25, 2025)
Academic Medical Centers have Not Updated Doctors and Patients on the
Long-Lasting Spike Protein (X post)
MedRxiv Preprint (February 18, 2025)
Title: Immunological and Antigenic Signatures Associated with Chronic Illnesses after COVID-19 Vaccination (MedRxiv)Key Points (Based on Web Result Summaries):
- This is the primary source of the Yale study, led by Akiko Iwasaki and colleagues.
- It confirms that some PVS participants had detectable SARS-CoV-2 spike protein in their bloodstream, with persistence up to 709 days post-vaccination.
- The study highlights immune dysregulation and increased markers of inflammation in PVS patients.
- As a preprint, this study has not yet been peer-reviewed, meaning its findings are preliminary and subject to further scrutiny.
Yale News Article (February 19, 2025)
Key Points:
- The article discusses a Yale study (published on medRxiv) investigating post-vaccination syndrome (PVS), a condition where a small number of people report chronic symptoms after COVID-19 vaccination.
- The study included 42 participants with PVS and 22 healthy vaccinated controls, analyzing blood samples for immune markers.
- It notes that PVS is not officially recognized by medical authorities, and little is known about its biological basis.
- The study is framed as an initial step to characterize PVS, identifying potential immunological patterns that differ between PVS patients and controls.
Reuters Fact Check (March 7, 2025)
Key Points:
- The article addresses a misleading claim on social media that the Yale study suggests long COVID is a vaccine injury.
- It clarifies that the study’s authors (including Harlan Krumholz, a co-senior author) and independent experts reject this interpretation.
- The study found spike protein persistence in some PVS patients, including those without prior COVID infection, but this does not imply that long COVID is caused by vaccines.
MedPage Today Article (Feb 20, 2025)
Title: "Researchers Describe Rare Syndrome After COVID Vaccine" Key Points:
- The article reports on the Yale study, specifically noting that detectable levels of the S1 subunit of the spike protein were found in plasma up to 709 days after vaccination in some PVS patients.
- Dr. Akiko Iwasaki, a lead researcher, expresses surprise at this finding, as the persistence of spike protein at such a late time point is unexpected.
- The article compares PVS to long COVID, noting similarities like exercise intolerance and neurologic issues, and mentions that persistent spike protein has been associated with long COVID as well.
Spike Proteins by COVID MRNA vaccines last up to a few weeks? Scientific Accuracy and Differing Views
According to
Nebraska Medicine, "the spike proteins that were generated by COVID-19 vaccines last up to
a few weeks."
However, updated studies claimed that the vaccine spike protein might last
more than a few weeks.
- Spike protein Detected up to 245 days: The S1 portion of the spike protein—produced by the COVID-19 vaccines—was detected in circulating immune cells (CD16+ monocytes) up to 245 days after vaccination, in individuals who had never tested positive for COVID-19 and had no evidence of prior infection based on antibody and T-cell testing. (Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics 2025)
- Spike protein Detected for 709 days: The claim that spike protein can be detected for 709 days is directly supported by the Yale study (2025). However, the study emphasizes that this was observed in a subset of PVS patients, not the general population, and the implications of this persistence are unclear.
- Spike protein production lasting at least one year: The study titled, Altered Circulating Cytokine Profile Among mRNA‐Vaccinated Young Adults: A Year‐Long Follow‐Up Study, was published in the journal Immunity, Inflammation and Disease (April 2025): "this study found that in young adults (mean age = 27.2), mRNA injection likely leads to sustained Spike protein production lasting at least one year—evidenced by persistently elevated levels of multiple proinflammatory cytokines. Elevation of inflammatory markers is likely to play a role in symptomatic long pandemic syndromes."
- Spike protein can remain in the brain up to 17 months: A study of 19 stroke victims published in the Journal of Clinical Neuroscience (2025) confirmed that spike protein from mRNA COVID-19 vaccines can remain in the cerebral arteries for up to 17 months. In one case, a 70-year-old woman, had spike protein present 17 months after her last shot and in another, 11 months. None of the cases showed nucleocapsid protein positivity, supporting the absence of active viral infection.
- Another study published in Molecular Systems Biology (2025) revealed that mRNA vaccines induce a highly dynamic and persistent training of innate immune cells enabling a sustained pro-inflammatory immune response. According to Sonia Elijah, "The findings point to a disturbing picture of chronic inflammation with cancer risks (e.g., Roe et al., 2017, on H3K27ac in leukemia) tied to this epigenetic rewiring."
COVID spike protein vs Vaccine spike protein
According to Google AI Overview:
The spike protein produced by a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine is designed to
mimic the spike protein found on the surface of the SARS-CoV-2 virus,
the virus that causes COVID-19. While the proteins are nearly
identical in their structure, the mRNA vaccine-induced spike protein
is handled differently by the body. Specifically, vaccine-induced
spike proteins are more likely to be stuck on the cell's outer
membrane and are less likely to have escape mechanisms. This
difference in how the proteins are handled leads to a reduced risk of
toxicity compared to the spike proteins produced during viral
infections. (source)
According to Google AI Overview:
A toxic possibility
It’s important to understand that 320 peer-reviewed scientific studies demonstrate that the Spike protein is highly pathogenic on its
own and causes damage to all organ systems while persisting in the
body for years. Thus, it can be reasonably assumed that clearing the
body of this potent toxin is a key step toward addressing
post-vaccination syndromes and long-COVID.
Contact with the spike protein appears to damage endothelial cells, which line every blood vessel in our body,
including hundreds of billions in our lungs. If spike proteins are
toxic, wouldn't a vaccine that causes our cells to make them be toxic,
too?
Could the mRNA vaccines directed at SARS-CoV-2 trigger a deluge of
that protein into the bloodstream, where it could wreak havoc with
heavily vascularized organs such as the heart, intestine and, of
course, lungs?
Conversations with several Stanford
Medicine experts suggest there may be less to this concern than
meets the eye. Here's one reason: For virtually every spike-protein
molecule induced by vaccination, the cell that made it becomes its
jail cell.
"The spike proteins made by SARS-CoV-2-infected cells and the spike
proteins cells produce in response to the vaccine are nearly, although
not exactly, identical," Davis said.
COVID spike protein
Inside a SARS-CoV-2-infected cell, the COVID virus commandeers the
cell's protein-making machinery and forces it to make myriad copies of
the invader's own proteins and genetic material. Once made, the vast
majority of newborn spike proteins are incorporated into new viral
particles that have evolved ingenious ways of escaping from the cell
that made them. Those particles are free to invade the cell next door or
spill into the circulatory system and points beyond.
Some of those virally originating spike protein molecules miss
their exit bus and wind up getting stuck on the cell's outer membrane.
That's how the immune system learns to attack SARS-CoV-2-infected
cells directly as well as to start pumping out antibodies that put the
little pathogens out of business before they can get into more cells,
Davis said.
It’s important to understand that 320 peer-reviewed scientific studies demonstrate that the Spike protein is highly pathogenic on its
own and causes damage to all organ systems while persisting in the
body for years. Thus, it can be reasonably assumed that clearing the
body of this potent toxin is a key step toward addressing
post-vaccination syndromes and long-COVID.
Contact with the spike protein appears to damage endothelial cells, which line every blood vessel in our body,
including hundreds of billions in our lungs. If spike proteins are
toxic, wouldn't a vaccine that causes our cells to make them be toxic,
too?
Could the mRNA vaccines directed at SARS-CoV-2 trigger a deluge of
that protein into the bloodstream, where it could wreak havoc with
heavily vascularized organs such as the heart, intestine and, of
course, lungs?
Conversations with several Stanford
Medicine experts suggest there may be less to this concern than
meets the eye. Here's one reason: For virtually every spike-protein
molecule induced by vaccination, the cell that made it becomes its
jail cell.
Inside a SARS-CoV-2-infected cell, the COVID virus commandeers the
cell's protein-making machinery and forces it to make myriad copies of
the invader's own proteins and genetic material. Once made, the vast
majority of newborn spike proteins are incorporated into new viral
particles that have evolved ingenious ways of escaping from the cell
that made them. Those particles are free to invade the cell next door or
spill into the circulatory system and points beyond.
Some of those virally originating spike protein molecules miss their exit bus and wind up getting stuck on the cell's outer membrane. That's how the immune system learns to attack SARS-CoV-2-infected cells directly as well as to start pumping out antibodies that put the little pathogens out of business before they can get into more cells, Davis said.
Spike protein molecules induced by mRNA vaccines have a different fate.
The COVID-19 vaccine's cargo is a bunch of mRNA strands that, once
safely inside a cell, direct the production of a whole lot of a single
substance: the spike protein. Once produced inside a vaccine-recipient
cell, it has no escape accomplices (the other components of the viral
structure) to latch onto, because the cell isn't making them. So, it
has no dependable passage out of the cell. Instead, Davis told me, the
vast majority of vaccine-induced spike proteins float or are carried,
either intact or sawed into snippets by enzymes inside the cell, to
the cell's outer membrane. There they get stuck, right where the
immune system can most easily spot them and mount a coordinated
response.
"An intact vaccine-generated spike protein molecule, by virtue of its
transmembrane domain, almost invariably sticks to the cell that makes
it," agreed vaccinologist and biochemistry professor Peter Kim, PhD.
According to Prof Peter Kim:
As I wrote in the magazine article, "Spike-proteins generated by the mRNA
vaccines for COVID-19 -- while their lack of toxicity may not be
absolute (they could in principle still bother neighboring cells, for
example) -- are a good bet to be a lot less toxic than the spike
proteins produced during the viral infections the vaccines
prevent."
Read More: COVID spike protein vs Vaccine spike protein
The COVID-19 vaccine's cargo is a bunch of mRNA strands that, once
safely inside a cell, direct the production of a whole lot of a single
substance: the spike protein. Once produced inside a vaccine-recipient
cell, it has no escape accomplices (the other components of the viral
structure) to latch onto, because the cell isn't making them. So, it
has no dependable passage out of the cell. Instead, Davis told me, the
vast majority of vaccine-induced spike proteins float or are carried,
either intact or sawed into snippets by enzymes inside the cell, to
the cell's outer membrane. There they get stuck, right where the
immune system can most easily spot them and mount a coordinated
response.
"An intact vaccine-generated spike protein molecule, by virtue of its
transmembrane domain, almost invariably sticks to the cell that makes
it," agreed vaccinologist and biochemistry professor Peter Kim, PhD.
According to Prof Peter Kim:
As I wrote in the magazine article, "Spike-proteins generated by the mRNA vaccines for COVID-19 -- while their lack of toxicity may not be absolute (they could in principle still bother neighboring cells, for example) -- are a good bet to be a lot less toxic than the spike proteins produced during the viral infections the vaccines prevent."
Does Covid vaccine contain spike proteins?
The mRNA COVID-19 vaccines
do not
contain spike proteins themselves
(with a couple of exceptions), but most of them work by teaching your body
to make the spike
protein, so your immune system can recognize and fight the real virus if it
shows up later.
So, only protein subunit vaccines like
Novavax
actually contain spike proteins directly. The others (mRNA vaccines) just give your body the blueprint to make
them.
How to Order Your Own Spike Antibody Test
You can now order a Spike protein antibody test from Labcorp Labs On Demand and get the results within a few days.
Here is a quick guide of interpretation of your results:
- <1000 U/ml very low level past exposure, negligible risks
- 1000-5000 U/ml symptoms or problem could be related to Spike protein
- >5000 U/ml Spike protein likely circulating in your bloodstream
- 10,000-25,000 U/ml very high risk for cardiac damage, blood clots, neurologic problems, autoimmunity, and potentially cancer
Other Options
You can also order a Spike antibody (Covid-19 antibody) test from healthlabs.com to assess your risk and establish a baseline before and after starting any anti-spike protein protocol.
Another option is Attomarker's COVID Antibody Spectrum Test. Although the test is now available for sample collection in the US, the actual testing is still performed in the UK (United Kingdom). Please note that the test report takes about 2 to 3 weeks to arrive (X.com). The COVID Antibody Spectrum Test measures antibody levels & quality to Spike variants. Mapped with variant prevalence & your medical history, it offers insights into your immune profile, and has helped people with long COVID explore treatment pathways.
Conclusion and Recommendations
- If you’re intrigued by the Yale study, it’s a legitimate piece of research that highlights the need for further investigation into PVS. However, its findings are preliminary, and the implications of spike protein persistence are not yet clear.
- If you’re concerned about PVS or vaccine side effects, consult a healthcare provider. The scientific community is still learning about PVS, and more research is needed to understand its causes and potential treatments.
- As with many conflicting recommendations, it's best to consult your trusted healthcare provider and carefully weigh the potential benefits against the possible risks before making a decision.
OneDayMD Editor's Note: Though there are many spike protein detox
treatment protocols out there, we consider and recommend the I-Recover protocol as one of the best. This protocol has also been used to treat
post-vaccine inflammatory syndromes with similar success. As with all
Independent Medical Alliance (previously known as FLCCC) protocols, the
components, doses, and durations will evolve as more clinical data
accumulates.
The “trusted healthcare provider” doesn’t know squat-diddly about this, because it is, and always has been, an EXPERIMENTAL shot, that never, ever qualified as a vaccine, because it has never contained any of the SARS-CoV-2 disease. Every other vaccine has a bit of a disease, to teach our bodies how to fight it.
ReplyDeleteNot yet clear? We’re getting there, as Japanese and German studies have now discovered and published.
I continue to have fatigue and shortness of breath with a diagnosis of long covid for approximately 2.5-3 years later. I have had hematology, cardiology, rheumatology, and GI referrals and not one doctor will discuss long covid or vaccine effects (I had Covid early on in January, had the first two vaccines in Feb and March and then had a horrendous Covid episode about 3 months later, and smother serious Covid bout about 6 months later). All the medical professionals I have seen punt by saying “there are just not enough studies that have been done” or “we just don’t know anything about possible effects this far down the road.” It is totally frustrating to know what you are feeling is not normal, having multiple test done with the common thread being inflammation and being told we don’t know why you have so much inflammation! I am a retired physical therapist who is not living my best life and yet no one will discuss anything related to vaccine or to long covid other than to give me a label long Covid and say there is no treatment.
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