Progress for the COVID vaccine injured with REACT19 Co-Chairman Brianne Dressen

This episode updates the story of Brianne Dressen, a clinical‑trial participant who developed severe POTS/dysautonomia and related symptoms after a COVID‑19 vaccine and then co‑founded REACT19, a science‑focused nonprofit for people with serious COVID vaccine injuries. REACT19 now has about 36,000 registered U.S. patients—mostly younger women—with high rates of autonomic dysfunction, neuropathy, MCAS‑like issues, and comorbidities such as EDS and tethered cord, and collaborates with >20 similar groups worldwide. The group runs a 600+ clinician network (providers pledge not to dismiss or gaslight patients), emotional support circles, and a medical grant program that has distributed about $1.25M (typically $6–10k per patient) to help pay for testing and treatments like IVIG or HBOT that are otherwise unaffordable. Brianne describes research collaborations with Yale’s LISTEN study, which has published three papers: a descriptive analysis of post‑vaccination syndrome; an immunology paper showing concerning immune changes and persistent spike protein in some vaccine‑injured people without prior COVID; and a symptom‑comparison paper showing large overlap between long COVID and post‑vaccine illness but relatively more neuropathic symptoms in the vaccine‑injured group and more classic pulmonary/ENT and cognitive issues in long COVID. She explains the extreme difficulty of getting vaccine‑injury research funded or published and the political and institutional pressure to avoid the topic. The conversation reviews the U.S. compensation system: because COVID vaccines fall under the PREP Act, manufacturers are shielded from lawsuits and patients are routed to the CICP, a program with a one‑year filing deadline, no attorney or appeal rights, and very low approval and payout rates (39 awards, mostly around $4,000, despite >10,000 claims and a ~$25M annual administrative budget). Brianne herself was denied despite extensive NIH and trial documentation. REACT19 lobbies for reform but progress is stalled by partisan politics and deference to HHS. Brianne also discusses censorship of patient stories, her First Amendment lawsuit (Dressen v. Flaherty) against the Biden administration, and her efforts to raise awareness through a book ("Worth a Shot") and an award‑winning documentary ("Follow the Silenced"). For patients and clinicians, she stresses: 1) vaccine injury, long COVID, and other complex conditions like ME/CFS, POTS, MCAS, Lyme, and EDS share overlapping biology; 2) care must be collaborative and individualized; 3) emotional and nervous‑system regulation, pacing, and social connection are core to management; and 4) there is reason for cautious hope given emerging research and the growing clinical community willing to acknowledge and treat these syndromes. She personally has improved with IVIG plus hydroxychloroquine and intensive mind–body work, and encourages patients to celebrate small functional gains, protect themselves from online hostility, and seek out supportive communities and open‑minded clinicians via resources like REACT19.

Symptoms Pharmacological Treatments Nonpharmacological Treatments Exercise Underlying Mechanisms Comorbidities Nutrition Testing Diagnosis / Diagnostic Criteria Management