U.S. public health leaders sought to reassure Americans that COVID-19 shots are safe and urged them to get vaccinated after reports that a relatively small number of people — mostly young men — had suffered a heart problem after being immunized.
About 1,200 cases of heart inflammation have been reported in people who received COVID-19 vaccines produced by Pfizer and BioNTech or by Moderna, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The figure was reported Wednesday at a meeting of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which is weighing heart risks from the vaccines, particularly in adolescents.
More than 130 million Americans have been fully vaccinated with one of the two vaccines, both of which are made using mRNA technology. Despite their widespread use, there have been few reports of serious adverse effects.
Indeed, top U.S. health officials, regulators and doctors said Wednesday that the risk potentially posed by shots is extremely low, and that COVID-19 itself is more likely to affect people’s heart health.
In May, the Pfizer-BioNTech shot was cleared for emergency use in people as young as 12 after earlier being authorized for those 16 and older. About 20% of adolescents ages 12 to 15 are now fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.
But the heightened concern about possible cardiovascular side effects could threaten vaccine uptake among young adults and adolescents. The immunization push in the U.S. has been slowing in recent weeks, and potentially dangerous variants have begun to flourish in some areas where vaccination rates remain low.
Data presented at the ACIP meeting Wednesday show that for those ages 12 to 39, there’s only a 0.00126% risk of developing the heart condition within 21 days of getting their second dose of COVID-19 vaccine.
Other conditions related to COVID-19, like multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, or MIS-C, pose an even greater threat, the agency’s advisers said at the meeting.
In a joint statement, the CDC, leaders of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Assn., the American Heart Assn. and a host of other medical and public health groups strongly endorsed continued use of the COVID-19 vaccines despite the reports of myocarditis.
“The facts are clear: This is an extremely rare side effect, and only an exceedingly small number of people will experience it after vaccination. Importantly, for the young people who do, most cases are mild, and individuals recover often on their own or with minimal treatment,” the statement said.
“In addition, we know that myocarditis and pericarditis are much more common if you get COVID-19, and the risks to the heart from COVID-19 infection can be more severe.”
The White House said Tuesday that it will not hit its target of administering at least one dose of the vaccine to 70% of Americans by the Fourth of July. The Biden administration’s virus czar, Jeff Zients, attributed the missed goal to young adults.
Less than half of those ages 18 to 24 have gotten their first shot, according to the CDC. Meanwhile only 42% of those ages 16 and 17 have gotten a shot. And among the adolescents most recently cleared for the shot, just 29% have received their first dose.
In the spring, the CDC observed a spike in reports of myocarditis along with pericarditis, an inflammation of the membrane around the heart. A total of 1,226 cases have been reported through June 11, according to the CDC, most of which were among young men and adolescents.
“We’re observing this in younger age groups, mainly teens and early 20s,” Dr. Tom Shimabukuro, deputy director of the CDC’s Immunization Safety Office, said at the ACIP meeting. “This largely disappears when you get to older age groups.”
Still, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said Wednesday that mRNA vaccines have been successful in preventing severe illness and death among young people.
Speaking at the Milken Institute Future of Health Summit, Walensky added that the data presented at the advisory committee meeting will “overwhelmingly demonstrate that the benefits of vaccination far outweigh the risks.”