Covid shots may increase the risk of sudden cardiac death in young women, according to official UK data revealed today.
Government analysts sifted through data from the historic rollout in England to recheck the safety profile of vaccines under 30.
No significant increase in vaccine deaths was detected, debunking one of the biggest current conspiracy theories surrounding the lockdown-elimination plan.
Although, when the results were broken down further, experts found an increased risk of heart-related deaths in women for one type of jab.
Data collected by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that women who received a non-mRNA shot were 3.5 times more likely to die from such conditions within 12 weeks of vaccination.
This chart shows the risk of increased risk of cardiac death in young people in England following a Covid vaccination according to the ONS analysis. Colored lines represent the risk captured through the data. Each bracket represents the lower and higher estimates, with the middle dot representing the overall mean. A result greater than 1 indicates a greater risk of cardiac death, while less than 1 is a decreased risk. Young women (pink lines) who received a non-mRNA Covid shot saw a 3.5 times higher risk of death in the 12 weeks after vaccination. While an increase in male deaths (blue) was also seen for non-RNA jabs and in some estimates for mRNA vaccines, the ONS said the range of data was too large to be considered evidence of increased risk
This was compared to after that time frame, as opposed to the unvaccinated.
By looking at the numbers in this way, the ONS team was able to spot any noticeable link to vaccination.
Some vaccine-related deaths may have been overlooked in official figures, hence the need to look at the data in a different way.
Non-mRNA pricks included those from AstraZeneca and Novavax, the only two available during the time period of the study.
Although data on a specific vaccine brand was not included in the analysis. In the US, the Johnson and Johnson was one of the non-mRNA jabs used.
Write in the journal Naturethe ONS team concluded that 11 cardiac deaths in young women may be due to non-mRNA pricks.
However, the study does not directly prove that any deaths have been caused by a vaccine.
For example, fatalities could result from an unrelated health condition or even a Covid infection itself, as the virus is known to cause similar cardiac effects.
Researchers said that young women who received non-mRNA jabs during the study period were often classified as clinically vulnerable, which is why they were prioritized for jabs.
This factor may have explained their increased risk of death, the team suggested.
No comparable increased risk was found in men. However, academics gave no reason why, as that was beyond the scope of the analysis.
Nor did they find any evidence that mRNA pricks, such as those from Pfizer and Moderna, carried such a risk.
That disproves a conspiracy theory favored by anti-vaxxers that the mRNA injections are responsible for a spate of “sudden” deaths.
Only 75 Britons have been killed by Covid vaccines, official statistics show. It works out to about one death for every 2.1 million jabs handed out in the UK
In fact, the study, which also examined the overall risk of death after testing positive for Covid, found that unvaccinated young people were significantly more likely to die than the ‘all-cause’ jab.
Researchers chose to look at the 12-week period after vaccination, as this was the original period between vaccination doses.
The analysis was based on data from December 8, 2020, when Covid jabs were first rolled out, to May 25 last year.
It included people in England aged between 12 and 29, with researchers looking specifically at this group in response to some studies indicating a risk of heart disease in young people following Covid vaccination.
While credited with saving the nation from an endless lockdown and thousands of lives, Covid vaccines, like any medical treatment, are not without risk.
For example, mRNA vaccines can cause myocarditis in extremely rare cases. This inflammation of the heart is especially at risk for young men and boys.
And the AstraZeneca jab was withdrawn from under-40s in the UK in April 2021 after it was linked to a rare, but life-threatening, risk of developing blood clots.
Overall, Vahé Nafilyan, a senior statistician at the ONS, said the study showed that mRNA vaccines, now used for the majority of young Britons vaccinated, are generally safe.
“We find no evidence that the risk of cardiovascular or other-cause death is increased in the weeks following vaccination with mRNA vaccines,” he said.
However, he added that they found that young women who received a non-mRNA Covid shot had a 3.52 times higher risk of cardiac death in the 12 weeks following.
Although a risk increase of 3.52 times seems large, it should be noted that the actual number of deaths is estimated to be relatively small.
This equates to six cardiac deaths per 100,000 women vaccinated with at least a first dose of a non-mRNA vaccine.
But Mr Nafilyan said the context in which those jabs were given and to whom should be considered.
“Vaccination with the main non-mRNA vaccine used in the UK was discontinued for young people in April 2021 due to safety concerns,” he said.
“And most of the young people who received it would have been given priority because of clinical vulnerability or because they are health care workers.
‘Therefore, these results cannot be generalized to the population as a whole.
“While vaccination carries some risks, these should be assessed in light of its benefits.”
The ONS analysis did not speculate why women appeared to be at greater risk of cardiac death than men after their first non-mRNA Covid jab.
While the data showed that men had an estimated 1.18 increased risk of cardiac death after their first non-mRNA Covid jab, the ONS said the evidence was not strong enough to make a connection, as these few deaths simply based on chance.
It should also be noted that because young people’s overall odds of cardiac death are so small in the first place, any increase can seem dramatic.
The ONS analysis also included data on the risk of death after a positive Covid test for both stung and unstung youth.
Those without a Covid vaccine had a 2.5 times higher risk of death from any cause, while those who were stung had only a 1.9 times higher risk of death.
The ONS did not specifically analyze cardiac death among vaccinees who tested positive due to “insufficient data.”
Other studies have shown that Covid vaccines significantly reduce the risk of hospitalization and death in the general population, especially for those most at risk, such as the elderly.
As a whole, the study rips apart major claims spread by anti-vaxxers who have falsely said that people given the mRNA Covid vaccines are dying en masse.
However, a limitation of the study is that some deaths that occurred during the period analyzed may not have been included due to ongoing coroner investigations.
Professor Adam Finn, an expert in pediatrics at the University of Bristol, said the ONS study ‘raised as many questions as answers’.
The findings are somewhat unexpected as concerns about rare cardiac side effects – particularly myocarditis and pericarditis – have so far been particularly associated with second doses of mRNA vaccine in men, particularly when the dose interval has been short, while the reported here signal primarily in non-mRNA first doses in women,” he said.
A 2022 study led by academics at Imperial College London suggests nearly 20 million lives have been saved by Covid vaccines in the first year since countries started rolling out the jabs, the majority in wealthy countries
However, he said the data also showing that the risk disappeared before the second dose was “reassuring.”
Professor Finn, a member of Britain’s vaccine consultancy, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization (JCVI), eventually said more details were needed on the reported cardiac deaths.
“The next and most urgent issue to address is gathering more detailed information about what the nature of the reported cardiac events really was, as this would help us understand what is really in these numbers and could help in guiding future policy and vaccine design,” he said.
Although AstraZeneca’s jab was pulled specifically for young people in April 2021, it has effectively been withdrawn in the UK as the government has stopped ordering doses.
This was based on advice from the JCVI not including AstraZeneca in their recommended booster campaign pick list.
There are currently two non-mRNA Covid jabs approved for use in the UK.
These are the Novavax and Sanofi/GSK shots.
Britain’s drug watchdog, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), has had no safety reports on the Sanofi/GSK jab and was only approved for use in December last year.
Novavax was approved in February last year and deployed 1,200 times during the fall booster campaign, with 57 safety reports.
The ONS said they would continue to monitor data on Covid vaccine outcomes going forward.
There are approximately 75 known deaths in the UK from needle stick related side effects.