COVID-19 vaccination linked with fewer heart attacks and strokes

Researchers prove that the COVID-19 vaccination is associated with fewer heart attacks, strokes, and other cardiovascular issues

Researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have analysed the most extensive datasets in the United States to reveal that the COVID-19 vaccination is linked to fewer cardiac events among people who were infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

Impact of Vaccination on Major Adverse Cardiovascular Events in Patients with COVID-19 Infection

The research letter, “Impact of Vaccination on Major Adverse Cardiovascular Events in Patients with COVID-19 Infection,” was published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology yesterday, on February 20.

The research will also be presented in a poster session in New Orleans, LA, at the American College of Cardiology’s 72nd Annual Scientific Session Together With World Heart Federation’s World Congress of Cardiology.

The first study to examine full and partial COVID-19 vaccination

This is the first study to examine both full and partial vaccination and show a lower risk of major adverse cardiac events (MACE) in the United States in patients following SARS-CoV-2 infection.

This study confirms similar analyses performed previously using the Korean COVID-19 registry. Researchers used the National COVID Cohort Collaborative (N3C) database, the largest national comprehensive database on COVID-19.

The N3C was set up in 2020 and ever since has continuously collected and harmonized data from electronic health records of institutions across the U.S.

1,934,294 patients participated in the study

1,934,294 patients participated in the study, 217,843 of whom received mRNA vaccine formulations by Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna or viral vector technology by Johnson & Johnson.

A statistical technique called Cox proportional hazards was implemented to assess vaccination association with MACE.

Searching for evidence that vaccination has beneficial effects post-COVID

Senior author Girish N. Nadkarni, MD, MPH, Irene and Dr. Arthur M. Fishberg Professor of Medicine at Icahn Mount Sinai, Director of The Charles Bronfman Institute of Personalized Medicine, and System Chief, Division of Data Driven and Digital Medicine (D3M), Department of Medicine commented: “We sought to clarify the impact of previous vaccination on cardiovascular events among people who develop COVID-19 and found that, particularly among those with comorbidities, such as previous MACE, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, liver disease, and obesity, there is an association with a lower risk of complications.

“While we cannot attribute causality, it is supportive evidence that vaccination may have beneficial effects on a variety of post-COVID-19 complications.”

“To our surprise, even partial vaccination was associated with lower risk of adverse cardiovascular events,” concluded Joy Jiang, first study author and an MD/PhD candidate in the lab of Dr. Nadkarni.

“Given the magnitude of SARS-CoV-2 infection worldwide, we hope our findings could help improve vaccination rates, especially in individuals with coexisting conditions.”