COVID-19 vaccines may reduce risk of heart attack, stroke: Study

Study found rates of certain cardiac incidents were up to 10% lower
The study looked at data from nearly 46 million adults in England
Previous studies show higher incidence thrombocytopenia after first dose

Updated: Aug 4, 2024 / 02:22 PM CDT

FILE – Jackson-Hinds Comprehensive Health Center nurse Maggie Bass, right, gives a COVID-19 vaccine to an unidentified person, Sept. 21, 2021, in Jackson, Miss. COVID-19 vaccines get updated each fall to match newer strains of the virus and government advisers on Wednesday, June 5, 2024, are urging that Americans’ next shot target a strain called JN.1. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)

(NewsNation) — The COVID-19 vaccine and its booster shots may help reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke, a new study reports.

The study shows the rate of certain cardiac incidents like heart attack and stroke was up to 10% lower in the 13 to 24 weeks after the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Following a second dose, the incidence was up to 27% lower after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine and up to 20% lower after the Pfizer/Biotech vaccine.

The study, published in Nature Communications, was conducted by a team of researchers from the Universities of Cambridge, Bristol and Edinburgh studied health data from nearly 46 million adults in England between December 8, 2020, to January 23, 2022.

During this period, 90% of UK adults were vaccinated with at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer, Moderna, or AstraZeneca.

Among the patients that participated in the study, there were 5,655 arterial and 21,230 venous thrombotic events during the study period. Other less frequent cardiac events included 1,885 cases of thrombocytopenia, 590 of myocarditis, and 455 of pericarditis.

However, previous studies show there was a higher incidence of thrombocytopenia after the first dose of AstraZeneca compared with no vaccination,

“This England-wide study offers patients reassurance of the cardiovascular safety of first, second and booster doses of COVID-19 vaccines,” the study’s co-author William Whiteley, MB BCh, PhD, said in a press release. “It demonstrates that the benefits of second and booster doses, with fewer common cardiovascular events include heart attacks and strokes after vaccination, outweigh the very rare cardiovascular complications.”