According to a new pre-print study, adolescent boys with no health issues could end up getting hospitalized after having their COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer—instead of requiring medical care because of being infected with the virus.
The study’s proponents presented that young boys between 12 to 15 years of age who were given a second shot of Pfizer’s vaccine were more susceptible to having vaccine-induced myocarditis than being admitted at the hospital because of COVID-19. The study’s research group comprises health professionals Dr. Tracy Beth Høeg, Dr. Allison Krug, Dr. Josh Stevenson, and Dr. John Mandrola.
Myocarditis is the inflammation of the heart’s muscle. Besides impeding the heart’s ability to pump blood efficiently, this health issue can also cause arrhythmias or abnormal heartbeat patterns that can be potentially fatal.
The researchers based their findings on injury reports submitted to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) from January to June this year, focusing on the adolescents who were documented to have been given the mRNA COVID vaccine from Pfizer.
Using the criteria set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) regarding the identification and classification of myocarditis, they discovered that there were 257 confirmed cardiac adverse events (CAE) in the data they gathered. Moreover, most of the individuals who suffered vaccine-induced myocarditis were young boys between the ages of 12 and 15.
Epidemiologist Tracy Høeg, an associate researcher at the University of California, Davis, shared that they calculated 162.2 cases of myocarditis per million for 12 to 15-year old boys who received their second dose of Pfizer’s vaccine.
She also added that symptoms of the heart issue began to manifest as early as a few days after the young boys were given their second shot of the vaccine. As a result, almost 90 percent of the young boys required hospitalization. Notably, myocarditis is also a side effect prevalent with the COVID-19 vaccine produced by Moderna.
The study’s researchers concluded their findings by stressing that “quantification of the benefits of the second vaccination dose and vaccination in addition to natural immunity in this demographic may be indicated to minimize harm.” However, they emphasized the need for “further research into the severity and long-term sequelae of post-vaccination CAE.”
