A social media post promoting a correlation between the COVID-19 vaccine and heart attacks is getting wide popularity. However, there is no evidence to link the two.
By Tej Kumar
A Facebook post claiming "coronavirus vaccine may lead to a heart attack” has been shared repeatedly since April 2021. The claim also relates to a recent incident in Bellary district of Karnataka state in India to prove it but experts highlight that the claim is false.
We searched for the incident which is being referred to in the social media post. The incident cited in the post is not true. The incident took place at Sandur in Bellary district, which is 314 Kilometres far away from Bengaluru, Karnataka. The death of a Ballari district resident who was a permanent employee of the Health Department was due to underlying health conditions including high BP and diabetes which led to a heart attack. The Karnataka health department said none of the other healthcare workers who took the vaccine from the same vial had any adverse events.
It was reported on many news websites you can see here, here and here. The post is misleading and creating fear by relating the person's death to the vaccine.
The American Heart Association said in a statement issued on Jan. 15, 2021, that it's important for people who have had heart disease or stroke to get vaccinated as quickly as possible because they are at higher risk for severe disease if infected.
We contacted Dr Maulik Patel, a consultant physician in Divine life hospital Adipur, Kutch to understand if there is any relation between vaccines and heart health. He said, "there is no link between heart attacks with COVID vaccines. No other major vaccine-associated adverse events like heart attacks were identified in post-vaccine surveillance. No cases of vaccine-induced heart ailments or heart attacks are noted in 7 plus crore vaccinations done so far."
He further explained, “Vaccines are a significant step and great progress for a COVID-free future; maintaining vigilance and not letting their guard down at this point is very important”.
According to the Health Harvard blog, “the vaccine is safe and advised for people with a history of heart attack and cardiovascular disease.”
The Covid vaccines available and listed by WHO are safe, “there are strict protections in place to help ensure the safety of all COVID-19 vaccines. Before receiving validation from WHO and national regulatory agencies, COVID-19 vaccines must undergo rigorous testing in clinical trials to prove that they meet internationally agreed benchmarks for safety and effectiveness”.
