In a popular online post, Peter McCullough claims that a new study found people who got pneumococcal vaccines were more likely to get pneumonia and die than people who didn’t get the vaccine.

A group of scientists in Spain looked at the health records of more than 2.2 million adults aged 50 and older. They wanted to see if two vaccines (PCV13 and PPSV23) helped prevent people from being hospitalized with pneumonia. These vaccines are meant to protect against  Streptococcus pneumoniae, a type of bacteria that can cause serious pneumococcal disease, including lung infections like pneumonia.

The study spanned one year, 2019 and compared people who had gotten one of the pneumonia vaccines with those who hadn’t. The researchers checked how many people in each group were hospitalized for pneumonia and how many died while in the hospital.

At first glance, the people who had gotten the vaccine seemed more likely to end up in the hospital with pneumonia. But the scientists explained why this happened: the vaccinated people were usually older and had more health problems than those who were not vaccinated. That’s probably why they got vaccinated in the first place. In other words, they were already at a higher risk of getting sick.

After the researchers adjusted their numbers to try to account for those differences, the vaccines still didn’t appear to lower the chance of pneumonia hospitalizations. However, the study did not show that the vaccines caused pneumonia or made people more likely to die. It only showed that the vaccines did not seem to be very effective at preventing pneumonia in that particular group and year.

The authors were very clear: their study does not prove that the vaccines are harmful. Instead, it shows that in this group of older adults in Catalonia, Spain, the vaccines didn’t seem to make a big difference in preventing hospital stays for pneumonia. The scientists said the results might be affected by other factors, like age, health conditions, and the types of pneumonia germs going around at that time.

They also pointed out that newer vaccines (PCV15, PCV20, and PCV21) are now being used and might work better. The researchers believe that vaccine effectiveness should be checked again in the future, using these newer versions.

Even though the names sound alike, pneumococcal disease and pneumonia are not the same thing. Pneumococcal disease is caused by certain bacteria and can lead to different kinds of illnesses. Pneumonia is just one of those illnesses, along with blood infections, infections of the lining of the brain, ear infections, and sinus infections. Other bacteria, viruses, or health problems can also cause pneumonia.

It looks like this study shows that pneumonia vaccines increase the risk of getting pneumonia or dying, but that is not true. The study never said that vaccines cause harm. It only found that, in this one population, the vaccines didn’t prevent as many pneumonia hospitalizations as hoped. Scientists still agree that pneumonia vaccines are safe and can help protect people, especially older adults and those with health problems.

On his online show, Del Bigtree claims that a Cleveland Clinic study found people who got last year’s flu shot were more likely to catch the flu than those who didn’t, and he criticizes doctors for recommending the vaccine without knowing this, suggesting people stop trusting them.

A recent study from the Cleveland Clinic was released as a preprint. This means it hasn’t yet gone through peer review, the process where other scientists carefully check a study to make sure the research methods and conclusions are sound. Because that review hasn’t happened, the authors note that the study “should not be used to guide clinical practice.” In other words, doctors shouldn’t use the study to make medical decisions yet.

There were also other issues with the study. One big problem was selection bias, which means the people included in the study might not represent everyone fairly. For example, people who get the flu shot might be more likely to visit the doctor or get tested for the flu when they feel sick, while unvaccinated people might not get tested at all. This can make it look like more vaccinated people have the flu, even if that’s not really the case.

Another limitation is that the study only looked at how many people caught the flu, not how sick they got. But one of the main reasons people get the flu vaccine is to prevent severe illness. Even if someone still gets the flu after being vaccinated, they are usually less likely to end up in the hospital or miss a week of school or work. For instance, a vaccinated person might have a low fever and a sore throat for a couple of days, while an unvaccinated person might get a high fever and be bedridden for a week. The vaccine can also reduce the risk of dangerous complications like pneumonia, especially in older adults or people with chronic health problems.

Because the study didn’t measure these more serious outcomes, it doesn’t give the full picture of how the flu vaccine protects people. More careful research is needed before drawing conclusions about the vaccine’s effectiveness.

Continuing online claims state that people who received at least one COVID vaccine dose are more likely to develop several types of cancer, such as colorectal, breast, and bladder cancer, within six months after vaccination.