![\"Platelets](\"https:\/\/www.tomgrimshaw.com\/tomsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Platelets_and_Lipids.jpg\")
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A new study made available online today in\u00a0preprint<\/a>\u00a0analyzes exposure to COVID-19 vaccine components such as lipid nanoparticles or spike protein.<\/p>\n This exposure can be experienced directly, as through vaccination, or indirectly, such as through blood transfusions from vaccinated donors.<\/p>\n Lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) are used in mRNA COVID vaccines, like Pfizer and Moderna, to deliver the mRNA into the host cells.<\/p>\n The mRNA tells the host cell to produce spike proteins, which in turn triggers an immune response in the body.<\/p>\n The study authors argue these vaccine components can be found not only in the body of the vaccinated, but they also can be shed onto those nearby.<\/p>\n \u201cBiodistribution may not be limited to the body of the vaccine recipient, as a growing body of evidence demonstrates the possibility of secondary exposure to vaccine particles,\u201d the authors write.<\/p>\n \u201cThese can be via bodily fluids and include the following routes of exposure: blood transfusion, organ transplantation, breastfeeding, and possibly other means.\u201d<\/p>\n For example, the presence of vaccine components in the blood \u201cpresents a possible threat to a recipient of a blood donation from a vaccinated donor who suffered from vaccine induced thrombosis or thrombocytopenia (VITT).\u201d<\/p>\n Vaccine-induced thrombosis or thrombocytopenia is a serious condition where blood clots (thrombosis) and low platelet levels (thrombocytopenia) occur after receiving certain vaccines, particularly those against COVID.<\/p>\n Alarmingly, the authors were unable to find evidence that it is safe for the vaccinated to donate blood.<\/p>\n \u201c[W]e did not find evidence to support the safety of COVID-19 vaccine recipients to donate blood,\u201d the study reads. \u201cQuestions remain over the safety of associated blood products and secondary exposure to vaccine particles.\u201d<\/p>\n The authors therefore call on the vaccinated to stop donating blood altogether.<\/p>\n \u201cGiven these concerns, blood donors should consider refraining from donation until more information is published on the safety of blood from vaccinated donors,\u201d they conclude.<\/p>\n The researchers note vaccine components can be shed from the vaccinated onto those nearby simply by proximity.<\/p>\n \u201cIn households where one person was vaccinated, other family members developed spike protein antibodies,\u201d they confirm.<\/p>\n Vaccine components can be transferred simply through \u201ceither exhalation or skin-to-skin contact.\u201d<\/p>\n The authors also point to sexual intercourse as a \u201cpossible mode of transmission,\u201d as \u201cspike protein RNA has been observed in semen during SARS-CoV-2 infection.\u201d<\/p>\n Breastfeeding also presents a \u201cpossible, albeit likely transient, route of secondary exposure for nursing babies\u201d given that \u201cvaccine contents have been observed in breast milk,\u201d the study adds.<\/p>\n The researchers point to cases of breastfed infants who have suffered from severe adverse events \u201cfrom their mother\u2019s milk that contains not only SARS-CoV-2 antibody proteins, but traces of the injection materials and likely spike proteins as well.\u201d<\/p>\n