Portland, Oregon- A recent study conducted by the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) and published in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) has concluded that COVID-19 vaccination is not associated with death from cardiac causes among previously healthy young individuals.
The study, which analyzed nearly 1,300 deaths among adolescents and young adults aged 16 to 30 in Oregon over a span of 19 months during 2021 and 2022, found no fatalities attributed to vaccination within 100 days of receiving an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine dose.
OHA says this addresses concerns raised since early 2021 regarding the potential risk of cardiac death associated with COVID-19 vaccination, particularly among healthy young people. Dr. Paul Cieslak and Dr. Juventila Liko, co-authors of the study from OHA’s Acute and Communicable Disease Prevention Section, emphasized that the Oregon data reviewed did not support such associations.
According to Dr. Cieslak, none of the 1,292 deaths of individuals aged 16 to 30 during the study period were found to be caused by COVID-19 vaccination, based on information recorded on death certificates. Among the 40 deaths that occurred among individuals who had received an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine dose, only three occurred within 100 days after vaccination. However, the causes of two deaths were attributed to chronic underlying conditions, and one remained undetermined. None of the death certificates attributed death to vaccination.
The study also highlighted the low number of deaths caused by COVID-19 among vaccinated individuals in this age group. Among the 30 deaths attributed to COVID-19, only three of the decedents had received any COVID-19 vaccination.
Dr. Cieslak emphasized the significant reductions in COVID-19-related mortality observed among vaccinated individuals, citing estimates that vaccination prevented millions of hospitalizations and deaths during the first two years of vaccine availability in the United States.
However, the researchers acknowledged limitations in their findings. They noted the inability to exclude the possibility of vaccine-associated cardiac deaths occurring more than 100 days after COVID-19 vaccination. Additionally, while adverse events associated with vaccinations typically occur within 42 days of vaccination, the study could not rule out rarer events among vaccine recipients in this age group.
Dr. Cieslak reiterated the official recommendation that individuals, aged 6 months and older, get vaccinated to prevent COVID-19.
Source: OHA
