The vaccine rollout has seen an unprecedented amount of people being vaccinated in a very short space of time. In the UK, a total of around 27 million people are now fully vaccinated. As the age group being called up for their vaccines hits the younger bracket, worrying reports from both Israel and the US have reported heart inflammation side effects, mostly seen among young men. What is the link?
The US have reported 14 cases of myocarditis after receiving the vaccine.
Of the 14 cases, one patient, who tested positive for COVID-19 three months ago, developed myocarditis after their first dose of vaccine.
The other remaining 13 patients developed myocarditis after their second vaccine doses.
Eleven received the Moderna vaccine and three received the Pfizer vaccine.
According to reports, Israel is exploring any link between myocarditis and the Pfizer vaccine.
Of more than five million vaccines administered in Israel, 62 cases of myocarditis were recorded days after vaccination.
Most were seen in men under age 30 with 56 of the 62 cases occurred after the second vaccine dose.
“It does suggest that this is, at least statistically, a real phenomenon,” said Dr Peter Liu, a cardiologist and chief scientific officer of the University of Ottawa Heart Institute.
In response to the report, Pfizer said it was aware of the findings, but that no causal link between myocarditis and its vaccine had been established, according to Reuters.
In the case of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, there were no meaningful differences in how well it works in people with health conditions that put them at risk of severe Covid-19, said the British Heart Foundation.
The health charity added: “Testing for the Oxford (also known as Vaxzevria) vaccine included people with heart and circulatory disease, diabetes, lung disease and obesity, and found it gave similar levels of protection as to those who did not have those conditions.
“Similarly, the testing for the Moderna vaccine included people with diabetes, significant heart or circulatory disease, chronic lung disease, severe obesity and liver disease.
“The research found that the vaccine worked similarly well in these higher-risk groups to the general population.”
