A recent large British study showed males under 40 more likely to get myocarditis following a third Pfizer COVID-19 vaccination shot.
That’s bad news for young men seeking vaccination but it is countered by good news that most vaccine-induced cases of myocarditis resolved quickly in young men. The study provided even worse news for young men given Moderna vaccines. In the end, it was all balanced out by relatively good news that myocarditis deaths were rare occurrences.
The British study’s pre-print results have not been peer-reviewed but do provide data from a statistically significant sample of vaccinated people. The lead author of the report documenting reactions of 42 million vaccinated British people is Oxford University’s Martina Patone. Oxford partnered with AstraZeneca to produce a COVID-19 vaccine that was widely distributed in Great Britain.
Myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle) risk in young men increased slightly within 28 days after a third dose of Pfizer (IRR 2.02, 95%CI). Researchers found stronger links between vaccinations and myocarditis in males younger than age 40. They noted an additional 3 events per million (EPM) within 28 days after a first jab of Pfizer’s vaccine and 12 EPM within 28 days following a first dose of Moderna vaccine.
After a second vaccine shot, researches found 14 EPM from Oxford-AstraZeneca, 12 EPM from Pfizer and an eye-popping 101 EPM from Moderna.
Following a third Pfizer dose Pfizer vaccine, there were 13 EPM, compared with 7 EPM following a COVID-19 infection.
“An association between COVID-19 infection and myocarditis was observed in all ages for both sexes but was substantially higher in those older than 40 years,” wrote lead study author Martina Patone, from the University of Oxford.
“Of the 42,200,614 persons included in the study population, 2,539 (0.006%) were hospitalized or died from myocarditis during the study period,” wrote Patone, adding that 552 (0.001%) of these events occurred during 1-28 days following any dose of vaccine. The note that only 552 people, out of 42 million studied, were hospitalized or died should take a lot of the worry about vaccination causing fatal heart disease among young men.
Indeed, a recent report gave similarly reassuring news about myocarditis in young men after receiving vaccinations.
Military doctors who studied reactions from nearly 3 million vaccinated service members documented 23 male patients, with a median age of 25, sought medical treatment after experiencing acute chest pain within 4 days of getting an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine. All were reported as being previously healthy, highly fit individuals.
European studies of myocarditis in young men after vaccination found similarly elevated numbers and some countries have stopped giving some vaccines to that population but overall numbers of deaths or lingering heart conditions remain relatively rare.
Scroll down to leave a comment and share your thoughts.