AHA/ASA: ‘Benefits of vaccination far exceed the very small, rare risks’
The benefits of COVID-19 vaccination outweigh the risks despite the possibility of heart-related complications such as myocarditis, the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association announced in a statement.
Recently, the CDC alerted health care professionals that they are monitoring the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System and the Vaccine Safety Datalink for cases of young adults developing myocarditis after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna.
As Healio previously reported, the cases seem to occur in predominantly in adolescents and young adults; more often in men vs. women; following the second vaccine dose vs. first; and typically, within 4 days after vaccination.
The AHA/ASA statement was written by Mitchell S.V. Elkind, MD, MS, FAHA, FAAN, president of the AHA; Robert A. Harrington, MD, FAHA, immediate past president of the AHA; Donald M. Lloyd-Jones, MD, ScM, FAHA, president-elect of the AHA; Mariell Jessup, MD, FAHA, chief science and medical officer of the AHA; and Eduardo Sanchez, MD, MPH, FAAFP, chief medical officer for prevention of the AHA.
“We strongly urge all adults and children ages 12 and older in the U.S. to receive a COVID vaccine as soon as they can receive it, as recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the CDC. The evidence continues to indicate that the COVID-19 vaccines are nearly 100% effective at preventing death and hospitalization due to COVID-19 infection,” the authors wrote.
“We commend the CDC’s continual monitoring for adverse events related to the COVID-19 vaccines ... demonstrating transparent and robust attention to any and all health events possibly related to a COVID-19 vaccine. The few cases of myocarditis that have been reported after COVID-19 vaccination are being investigated. However, myocarditis is usually the result of a viral infection, and it is yet to be determined if these cases have any correlation to receiving a COVID-19 vaccine, especially since the COVID-19 vaccines authorized in the U.S. do not contain any live virus,” they wrote.
“We remain confident that the benefits of vaccination far exceed the very small, rare risks. The risks of vaccination are also far smaller than the risks of COVID-19 infection itself, including its potentially fatal consequences and the potential long-term health effects that are still revealing themselves, including myocarditis. The recommendation for vaccination specifically includes people with cardiovascular risk factors such as high blood pressure, obesity and type 2 diabetes, those with heart disease, and heart attack and stroke survivors, because they are at much greater risk of an adverse outcome from the COVID-19 virus than they are from the vaccine,” the authors wrote.
The associations also support the CDC’s recommendation to loosen mask and social distancing restrictions on people who have been vaccinated, according to the statement.
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