Vaccine studies: myocarditis debate
A recent paper highlighted myocarditis occurrences in youth associated with the Pfizer‑BioNTech vaccine, reporting cases only in vaccinated cohorts per that writeup — the report does not state absolute risk in the briefing. (thenewamerican.com) Another contemporaneous study found COVID infection (a positive test) within 90 days of death more than doubled sudden‑death risk, and concluded vaccines did not raise sudden‑death risk in healthy young people. (zmescience.com)
An OpenSAFELY study led by researchers at Oxford and Bristol (with Harvard collaborators) analyzed routine NHS records for children and adolescents in England using the OpenSAFELY‑TPP platform in a matched, sequential‑trial observational design. (medrxiv.org) The preprint reported myocarditis and pericarditis events only in vaccinated groups, estimating incidence rates of about 27 cases per million after the first BNT162b2 dose and about 10 cases per million after the second dose. (medrxiv.org) Independent fact‑checks and the study text note the absolute numbers were very small and the paper did not attempt to measure myocarditis risk after SARS‑CoV‑2 infection, a limitation highlighted when the claim “only vaccinated kids get myocarditis” spread online. (aap.com.au) A separate population‑based case‑control study from Ontario led by Husam Abdel‑Qadir examined 6,365,451 residents aged 12–50 and identified 4,963 sudden‑death cases; that analysis found COVID‑19 vaccination was associated with lower odds of sudden death (adjusted OR 0.57, 95% CI 0.53–0.61) while a documented positive SARS‑CoV‑2 test within 90 days of death raised the odds (reported adjusted OR ≈2.36). (journals.plos.org) The Ontario study matched each case to five controls, excluded people with documented cardiovascular disease or other conditions that predispose to premature death, and reported the sudden‑death cases had a median age of 36 and were 74.4% male. (bmj.com)
