A small number of teenagers and young adults reported experiencing heart-related symptoms after receiving COVID-19 vaccines. According to an advisory group of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, further study is recommended to understand the rare condition.
Presently, two types of COVID-19 vaccines are authorized to be used for people ages 16 and above, while the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine was recently approved for children aged 12 to 15.
A young woman is vaccinated with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at SZentrum on March 11, 2021, in Schwaz, Austria. Over the next five days, authorities will offer the vaccine to all eligible adults in the Schwaz district as part of a European project to test the effectiveness of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against the South African coronavirus variant, which has become prevalent in the region.(Photo by Jan Hetfleisch/Getty Images)
Is It A Side-Effect of COVID-19 Vaccines?
According to The Hill's report, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) of the CDC said that there have been a relatively few cases of myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscles, among some teenagers and young adults.
This is found to be more prevalent among males, which could develop symptoms after four days after being vaccinated and more likely to occur after the second dose.
"Further information should be collected through medical record review about potential myocarditis cases that were reported into VAERS [Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System]," the CDC wrote in its report.
They added that information regarding this adverse event should be communicated to other clinicians to improve early recognition and to give patients who developed myocarditis symptoms following vaccination the appropriate care.
They emphasized that experts in the fields of infectious diseases, cardiology, and rheumatology should provide guidance on the diagnosis, treatment, and management of myocarditis.
Infectious diseases specialist Celine Gounder at Bellevue Hospital Center told The New York Times that the onset of the heart-related symptoms could "simply be a coincidence."
Dr. Yvonne Maldonado, chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics's Committee on Infectious Disease said that they are looking forward to more data about these cases to get a better understanding of whether it is related to the vaccines or if they are coincidental. Meanwhile, pediatricians and clinicians should report any health concerns that may arise after vaccination.
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COVID-19 Vaccines Benefits Outweigh Very Low Risk
Dr. John N. Greene, section chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases/Tropical Medicine at the Moffitt Cancer Center said that recent reports of heart-related symptoms among young vaccine recipients are alarming given that people and doctors are very protective of the heart.
Despite the news, Dr. Greene told parents that getting their children vaccinated is still very important because the risks are 100 times less than being infected with COVID-19.
Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security senior scholar Dr. Amesh Adaja said that vaccines are known to cause myocarditis and that it is crucial to monitor whether it is due to COVID-19 vaccines that the small number of young vaccine recipients got or not.
Like Dr. Greene, he recommended getting vaccinated because it is unequivocally much more beneficial than the low risks that it may have, Reuters reported.
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