No monitoring, no data, no consequences — but the vaccines were of course “safe and effective.”
It is one of the biggest scandals in Germany’s postwar history — and hardly anyone is talking about it. BioNTech, the Mainz-based company celebrated as the hero of the pandemic, positioned itself legally so that it is formally not even a vaccine manufacturer. And the authority responsible for monitoring vaccine safety — the Paul Ehrlich Institute (PEI) — failed to evaluate the legally mandated data for years.
On March 19, 2026, something happened in the Bundestag that the media would rather downplay as a “heated exchange.” In truth, it was an indictment. # The Bundestag’s Corona Enquete Commission convened on Thursday under the title “Healthcare System Performance, Vaccination Strategy, and Research.” What was planned as a sober review turned into a tribunal over the federal government’s vaccination policy. So uncomfortable that audience members were expelled from the chamber — not because they were disruptive, but because they applauded [1][2].
The Danish data shows what should never have happened: Identical product, completely different outcomes. Some batches cause illness. Some do — nothing at all. # In December 2025, Hamburg mathematics professor Hans-Juergen Bandelt published the first part of a three-part analysis on tkp.at. His starting point: the Danish study by Schmeling and Manniche, peer-reviewed and published in the European Journal of Clinical Investigation in 2023 [1]. His finding: More than 30% of BioNTech batches were practically ineffective — and the PEI knew it [2][3][4].
On 5 May 2026, BioNTech announces: up to 1,860 jobs cut — 22 percent of its workforce. The plants in Idar-Oberstein and Marburg close by end of 2027. The CureVac sites too. COVID vaccine production transfers entirely to Pfizer.
