Source: IAC Express
One of the elements of the Emergency Use Authorizations (EUAs) for COVID-19 vaccines is a requirement for physicians and other health care providers to report serious adverse events after vaccination to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS).
In recent weeks, cases of myocarditis occurring after COVID-19 vaccination have been reported. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) recently requested data from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna on reports of myocarditis and pericarditis after vaccination. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are aware of these reports, which are rare given the number of vaccine doses administered. The CDC, FDA, and the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) continue to monitor available data.
Myocarditis is the inflammation of the heart muscle and pericarditis is the inflammation of the lining outside the heart. In both cases, the body experiences inflammation in response to an infection or some other trigger. While myocarditis can be serious, it is frequently mild and self-limited. Symptoms can include abnormal heart rhythms, shortness of breath, or chest pain.
As part of COVID-19 vaccine safety efforts, the CDC and FDA are closely monitoring myocarditis/pericarditis in multiple safety systems, including VAERS and the Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD).
To date, there has not been any indication that these conditions are occurring more often than at background rates, neither in VAERS nor in the VSD. The CDC and FDA will continue to evaluate reports of myocarditis/pericarditis occurring after COVID-19 vaccination and will share more information as it becomes available. Physicians and other health care providers should consider myocarditis in an evaluation of chest pain after vaccination and report all such cases to VAERS.
The CDC continues to recommend COVID-19 vaccination for people 12 years and older.