Vaccine Trust Crisis: When Data No Longer Counts

The vaccination rate among over-60s for the flu shot is, according to the RKI, at its lowest level in 17 years [1]. The COVID-19 vaccination rate in this age group has fallen by more than a third compared to the previous season [2]. At the same time, data from Denmark show that different BioNTech batches showed different adverse-event rates — a study that the PEI dismissed as “not meaningful” without presenting its own data [3].

That is no coincidence. That is the result of a systematic failure.

The PEI monitoring that never happened

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Tom Lausen has documented it: the Paul Ehrlich Institute was supposed, under the Infection Protection Act, to monitor the safety of COVID-19 vaccines using health-insurance utilisation data. The data were never evaluated [4]. The Federal Ministry of Health knew about it from July 2021 onwards. Nothing happened.

Instead: spontaneous reporting system. Voluntary. Underreporting estimated at 95% [5]. No active surveillance. No batch analyses. No systematic follow-up.

BioNTech collected 35 billion euros in revenue between 2021 and 2023 [6]. Liability? With the states. With the doctors. With the citizens.

Schmeling et al.: Batch variability ignored

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The study by Schmeling et al. (2023) in the European Journal of Clinical Investigation showed significant differences in adverse-event reporting rates between different BioNTech batches in Denmark [7]. Larger batches had lower reporting rates — an observation that points either to quality issues or to systematic underreporting.

The PEI replied with a statement: the study was “not meaningful” because it was based on spontaneous reports [8]. Correct. But the PEI itself has not carried out batch analyses with utilisation data — although it would have been responsible for exactly that.

The question remains: if the Danish data are not meaningful, why are there no German data?

Myocarditis: The numbers nobody wanted to hear

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By the end of 2023, the PEI had registered a total of 279 suspected cases of myocarditis among 12- to 17-year-olds after mRNA vaccination [9]. For young men under 30, the risk is, according to various studies, up to 1 in 3,000 [10].

The German Heart Foundation writes: “The prognosis is favourable” [11]. That is true for the acute phase. But what about subclinical courses? What about long-term consequences that only become visible years later?

The problem: subclinical myocarditis is often not diagnosed — because nobody is looking for it. And without systematic monitoring, we don’t know how many cases have been missed.

The vaccination-rate crisis: Trust is gone

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The numbers speak for themselves:

• Flu vaccination rate ≥60 years: lowest level in 17 years [1]
• COVID-19 vaccination rate ≥60 years: drop of more than a third [2]
• HPV vaccination rate adolescents: stagnating at a middle level [12]

The population has lost trust. Not because they are “anti-science”. But because the agencies have not done their jobs.

No data. No transparency. No accountability.

What needs to happen now

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1. Full disclosure: All PEI data on batch variability, myocarditis cases, and long-term consequences must be made publicly accessible.

2. Independent investigation: A commission with proper legal authority must investigate the failure of the PEI and the BMG.

3. Active surveillance: Systematic monitoring with utilisation data — as originally provided for.

4. Accountability: Whoever earns billions must also be liable. The liability clauses in the EU contracts must be made public.

5. Treatment protocols: For the vaccine-injured, evidence-based treatment protocols must be developed and funded.

Conclusion

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The vaccination-rate crisis is not a communication crisis. It is a trust crisis. And trust does not arise through campaigns, but through transparency, data, and accountability.

As long as the PEI does not present its own batch analyses, as long as the BMG does not draw consequences, as long as BioNTech does not assume liability — trust will continue to fall.

And that is not the citizens’ fault. It is the institutions’ fault.

Sources

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1. RKI / ZEIT: “Flu vaccination rate of over-60s at lowest level in 17 years” (December 2025)
2. DocCheck: “COVID-19 vaccination — fatal trend?” (2024)
3. PEI: Statement on Schmeling et al. (August 2023)
4. Tom Lausen: BioNTech state-failure on vaccine safety (see blog archive)
5. Estimate based on international pharmacovigilance studies
6. BioNTech annual reports 2021–2023
7. Schmeling et al.: “Batch-dependent safety of the BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccine”, European Journal of Clinical Investigation (2023)
8. PEI: Statement on batch-specific accumulations (August 2023)
9. PEI: Bulletin on Drug Safety (December 2023)
10. German Heart Foundation: Myocarditis after corona vaccination (2024)
11. Ibid.
12. RKI: Vaccination rates in Germany (2024)