Young males are six times more likely to suffer from heart problems after being jabbed than be hospitalised from coronavirus, study finds
By Camilla Turner, EDUCATION EDITOR
9 September 2021 • 5:30pm
Teenage boys are six times more likely to suffer from heart problems from the vaccine than be hospitalised from Covid-19, a major study has found.
Children who face the highest risk of a "cardiac adverse event" are boys aged between 12 and 15 following two doses of a vaccine, according to new research from the US.
[...] Last week, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) delivered its long-awaited verdict, saying the "margin of benefit" of jabbing 12- to 15-year-olds was "considered too small" and citing the low risk to healthy children from the virus.
[...] A team led by Dr Tracy Hoeg at the University of California investigated the rate of cardiac myocarditis - heart inflammation – and chest pain in children aged 12-17 following their second dose of the vaccine.
They then compared this with the likelihood of children needing hospital treatment owing to Covid-19, at times of low, moderate and high rates of hospitalisation.
Researchers found that the risk of heart complications for boys aged 12-15 following the vaccine was 162.2 per million, which was the highest out of all the groups they looked at.
[...] The second highest rate was among boys aged 16-17 (94.0 per million) followed by girls aged 16-17 (13.4 per million) and girls aged 12-15 (13.0 per million).
Meanwhile, the risk of a healthy boy needing hospital treatment owing to Covid-19 in the next 120 days is 26.7 per million. This means the risk they face from heart complications is 6.1 times higher than that of hospitalisation.
