![\\"logo\\"](\\"/img/logo-dpa-factchecking.svg\\"/) * WhatsApp service * About Us ![\\"IFCN](\\"/img/ifcn-certificate.png\\"/) ![\\"EFCSN](\\"/img/efcsn- certificate.png\\"/) # BKK Provita also records mild vaccination reactions, not just those that require reporting Side effects March 2, 2022, 4:42 p.m. (CET), last update: March 3, 2022, 1:55 p.m. (CET) The effectiveness of the corona vaccines has been scientifically proven. That the Vaccinations occasionally cause vaccination reactions or, in extremely rare cases, severe ones Causing side effects is also a fact. To do this precisely Treating doctors should monitor unusual symptoms occur after a vaccination, according to the responsible Paul Ehrlich Institute (PEI). Report suspected cases. A statutory health insurance company recently threw the PEI However, in a letter it suggested that too few cases had been registered. That will too spread on social media (archived). ## Evaluation The BKK Provita data does not support this accusation. The analysis of the Health insurance is not meaningful because no distinction is made between temporary symptoms after a vaccination such as headaches, fatigue or Pain at the injection site and actually severe, persistent health problems. However, doctors must expect expected, mild reactions after the Do not necessarily report the Infection Protection Act. ## Facts Because of a letter from the now dismissed board member Andreas Schöfbeck to the President of the Paul Ehrlich Institute (PEI), Klaus Cichutek, dated 21. February 2022, BKK Provita recently hit the headlines. How does BKKProvita come to its claim? The basis for the evaluation is the doctors' billing data and According to the health insurance company, around 125,000 people are female doctors are insured. According to BKK Provita, it has data for this almost eleven million insured people from the company health insurance companies evaluated - “for the first half of 2021 and about half for the third Quarter 2021,” as stated in the letter to PEI President Klaus Cichutek is called. The BKK Provita wants the ICD classifications with which medical Diagnoses are named consistently internationally, according to the codes for so-called vaccination reactions and side effects. This ICD Keys are primarily used for the purpose of billing medical services the health insurance companies. They can be found on sick notes, for example. The nature and severity of the respective complaints of the insured persons can be discussed Say nothing, said Schöfbeck, the board member at the time, on February 25th to the “Welt”: “One thing is clear: things have gone so badly for people, that they went to the doctor.” At the request of the German Press Agency (dpa), how was guaranteed be that the calculation does not include symptoms of an expected vaccination reaction serious and reportable side effects were mixed BKK Provita does not take a position. Which codes were examined - and what do they mean? Own information that has now been removed from the homepage (archived here) According to BKK Provita, the billing data is based on four ICD keys searched: * «T88.0»: This code indicates an «infection after vaccination». As the Federal Ministry of Health (BMG) reports, the key is issued by doctors if, for example, inflammation occurs after the vaccination, for example if pathogens enter the body via the injection site. * “T88.1”: This abbreviation includes “other complications after vaccination” that cannot be assigned to another code. According to the BMG, “T88.1” is recorded if the puncture site is red or swollen or a skin rash occurs. * “Y59.9”: According to the BMG, unexpected events that are triggered by a specific substance are listed under the heading “Complications caused by vaccines or biologically active substances”. “Such a substance could be a vaccine, for example,” it says. But it doesn't have to. These three ICD codes not only cover Covid vaccinations, but can The same applies to vaccination reactions after a tetanus or hepatitis injection become. Only the fourth key that BKK Provita evaluated is corona- specific: * “U12.9”: This code refers to “adverse side effects when using Covid-19 vaccines” that are not specified. The key is given for complaints such as pain or redness at the vaccination site, fever, rash, diarrhea, body aches or swelling of the lymph nodes, as the BMG writes. Accordingly, doctors use this code not only for mild symptoms but also for more serious, unintended effects such as facial paralysis or inflammation of the heart. What is the result of the BKK Provita analysis? In its letter to the PEI, the health insurance company assumes that Counting the four ICD codes in their sample resulted in 216,695 side effects a corona vaccination occurred. This data is used throughout German population and the entire year 2021 extrapolated. The BKK Provita comes to the following conclusion: “Probably” 2.5 to 3 million people are “in” because of vaccination side effects been given medical treatment”. Apparently four to five percent of the Corona vaccinated people in Germany are therefore presented to the doctor. The BKK Looking at the PEI data, Provita concludes that there is “a very There is significant under-recording of suspected cases of vaccination side effects. What official information does the Paul Ehrlich Institute provide? Doctors report suspected side effects or side effects to the PEI Vaccination complications reported that were temporally related to the vaccination stand. But that doesn't mean that there is a vaccination in the PEI data must actually be the cause of the symptoms. In its security report on the period between the start of the Vaccinations in Germany on December 27th, 2020 and December 31st, 2021 the institute: A total of 244,576 suspected side effects were reported vaccination with one of the four approved corona agents at the time was reported. “Serious adverse reactions were reported in 29,786 suspected cases reported,” said the PEI. For comparison: According to the Robert Koch Institute, during this period around 150 million vaccinations administered. In proportion this means: at 1000 According to the PEI, a total of 1.64 suspected cases were reported. For For serious reactions, the rate was 0.20 reports per 1000 vaccine doses. Regarding the BKK Provita data, the PEI informed the dpa on February 25, 2022, to have “not yet received access to the original data”. In addition, there are There is no information about the evaluation method, so there is currently none Assessment of the BKK-ProVita data possible. «Moreover, from the The letter does not indicate whether there is actually a causal connection the vaccination," it says about the letter. The dpa also did not want any further information about BKK Provita Communicate the methodology or origin of the insured person data. Why are the numbers so different? This also goes into the doctors’ bills to the health insurance companies such clinical pictures that do not apply within the meaning of the Medicines Act belong to the serious vaccination reactions - and therefore not to the PEI must be reported. Even mild reactions can be annoying - But they are not unexpected or even dangerous. Paragraph 6 of the Infection Protection Act states that “the Suspicion of a vaccination reaction that goes beyond the usual extent damage to health”. Local, temporary and general Reactions that have already occurred, for example, in clinical trials According to PEI information, vaccines that have been identified are “not subject to reporting”. The RKI also explains this distinction. Doctors, in turn, have to assign ICD codes on their bills. For example, anyone who feels too weak to work after a vaccination go, consult the doctor for a sick note. To do this they have to But patients do not necessarily receive treatment. An ICD key will however still forgiven, as a doctor from Neu-Ulm did in detail on Twitter explained. The BKK-Provita analysis only shows that the known and expected vaccination reactions actually occur. Conclusions about possibly However, there are no previously unrecognized side effects. What do other experts say about the BKK Provita analysis? The umbrella organization of professional health insurance companies (BKK), the central organization of the company health insurance companies, publicly distances themselves, but only taciturn with the letter from one of its more than five dozen members: “We inform that the data does not come from the BKK umbrella association as reported,” it says on Twitter. No position is taken on the content. Harsh criticism of the BKK Provita calculation comes from, among others, the Association of established doctors in Germany (Virchowbund). The Federal Chairman Dirk Heinrich names the health insurance company’s conclusions in a statement “complete nonsense”. These two completely mix different areas: medical diagnosis coding with ICD codes and the report to the PEI. The Virchowbund points out that the ICD code “U12.9” is for undesirable, unspecified side effects the entire range of expected, mild and temporary consequences of a vaccination. Only when there is suspicion Doctors would have to respond to side effects that go beyond the usual level report to the PEI. A spokesman for the Federal Ministry of Health explained on February 28th Analysis of the health insurance company: BKK Provita has all the reports from the doctors recorded - for example even if people felt weak and not ready went to work. “But that doesn’t meet the definition of Vaccination reactions,” said the spokesman. What is BKK Provita actually about? Virchowbund boss Heinrich accuses the health insurance company of being “undifferentiated Oaths”. This “obviously fits into the company’s brand image Fund that advertises homeopathy and osteopathy as statutory services.” He assumes that the BKK Provita primarily wants to advertise to those critical of vaccinations make clientele. BKK Provita writes about its own values: “Our understanding of health is characterized by the belief that personal health and... The health of our planet is inextricably linked.” The health insurance company deals with “relationships between human health and the political, economic, social and natural systems of our planet; everything that surrounds us." On March 1, 2022, BKK Provita separated from “with immediate effect”. Board member Schöfbeck. At the beginning of 2021 this was in the foreword to the non-fiction book a vaccine skeptic questioned whether there were enough studies effectiveness and side effects of the corona vaccines. The vaccines from Biontech/Pfizer and Moderna were after detailed scientific research Examination on December 21, 2020 or January 6, 2021 in the EU been approved. (As of: March 2, 2022) ## Correction In order to prevent misunderstandings, a comparison was made with an initial version from March 2nd in the “Evaluation” section the last sentence was replaced. This one was one inaccurate shortening of the information from the “Facts” section. It now says: “Doctors However, expected, mild reactions do not have to occur according to the Infection Protection Act Be sure to report.” (instead of: “Only the latter are included in the PEI data.”) ## Links BKK Provita letter to PEI (archived) Attachment to the BKK Provita letter to PEI (archived) BKK Provita via its own evaluation (archived) BKK Provita about its own insured persons (archived) BKK Provita about Schöfbeck's dismissal (archived) BKK Provita about its own values ​​(archived) “Welt” via BKK Provita letter, for a fee (archived) BMG via ICD code “T88.1” (archived) BMG via ICD code “T88.0” (archived) BMG via ICD code “Y59.9” (archived) BMG via ICD code “U12.9” (archived) Catalog of ICD Codes 2022 (archived) RKI about reported vaccinations (archived) RKI on vaccination reactions and vaccination complications (archived) PEI Safety Report for 2021 (archived) Infection Protection Act on Notifiable Diseases (archived) Doctor Kröner about doctors/ICD codes (archived) Virchowbund statement about BKK Provita letter (archived) BKK umbrella organization about its own members (archived) BKK umbrella organization about BKK Provita letter (archived) BMG spokesman on BKK Provita letter (from 1:15:17 hours) (archived transcript) Schöfbeck foreword in vaccine book EMA on approval of corona vaccines (archived) Facebook post about alleged under-reporting of vaccination side effects (archived) Contact the dpa fact check team: faktencheck@dpa.com powered by dpa-newslab | Imprint | Privacy | About:
The Paul Ehrlich Institute records significantly too few side effects after a corona vaccination