The rates of Mytocarditis cases jumped by two-to-three times higher for those that had received a second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine created by Moderna than the vaccine created by Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19, explains the research.
A study put out by the American College of Cardiology this past week explained that both females and males between the ages of 18-39 that had been dosed with the Moderna vaccine sported much higher rates of pericarditis and myocarditis. Males between the ages of 18-39, however, sported the highest rates after getting the second dose of Moderna.
A report from the National Institutes of Health expressed that patients were dealing with symptoms such as fever, fatigue, chest pain, rapid or irregular pulse, shortness of breath, heart failure, shock, or death.
The team of researchers utilized data from roughly 3 million people in British Columbia, Canada, and utilized people over the age of 18 that had been hospitalized for myocarditis, pericarditis, or myopericarditis with a period of 21 days in the wake of being administered a second dose of Pfizer or Moderna between Jan. 1, 2021, and Sept. 9, 2021. The study made sure to trim out anyone that had previously dealt with myocarditis or pericarditis within the last year prior to taking their dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
“Within 21 days of the second dose, there were a total of 59 myocarditis cases, 21 after Pfizer and 31 after Moderna; and there were a total of 41 pericarditis cases: 21 after Pfizer and 20 after Moderna,” the study explains. “Researchers also looked at rates per million doses and the rate was 35.6 cases per million for Moderna and 12.6 per million for Pfizer—an almost threefold increase after Moderna shots vs. Pfizer.”
“Comparatively, rates of myocarditis in the general population in 2018, were 2.01 per million in people under age 40 and 2.2 per million in people over age 40,” the study explained.
Guy Witberg, MD, MPH, who works as a cardiologist for Rabin Medical Center in Petah-Tikva, Israel, explained that the findings from the study are “uring for vaccine safety,” going further, it personalizes the approach to handling COVID-19 vaccines since additional data shows that myocarditis is a quite rare reaction after both vaccines.
“[The study] should help put to rest ‘vaccine hesitancy’ due to concerns over cardiac adverse events,” explained Witberg. “This is one of only a few direct comparisons of the two widely adopted mRNA vaccines, and its results have practical policy implications: for a substantial segment of the population suffering from cardiovascular disease.”
Luke Mircea-Willats, a spokesperson for Moderna, sent over a statement via email to UPI which explained, “mRNA-1273 has been administered to hundreds of millions of people worldwide and has been shown to be effective against both the original strain of the virus and its major variants.”
“Regulatory agencies around the world have stated that the benefits of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines significantly outweigh the risk across all age groups,” highlighted Mircea-Willats. “Vaccination against COVID-19 continues to be a critical tool in overcoming the impacts of the global pandemic.”
Moderna explained to UPI that any myocarditis cases are a known but “very rare” possibility that goes along with COVID-19 mRNA vaccines, stating, “when it does occur, cases are generally mild and resolve after a few days with treatment and rest.”
It was also noted by Moderna that population levels seem to indicate that the overall risk of myocarditis in the wake of COVID-19 infection is quite a bit higher than in the wake of COVID-19 vaccination, concluding that it “shares all adverse events data with regulators and has a robust pharmacovigilance function, ensuring any adverse events are recorded and shared with the regulator in line with local regulations.”
