Vaccine heart risk ‘greater threat to boys than Covid’

TEENAGE boys are six times more likely to suffer heart problems caused by MRNA vaccines than to be hospitalised with Covid, a study has found.

Children who face the highest risk of an “adverse cardiac event” are boys aged between 12 and 15 following two doses of vaccine, according to new research from America that looked at vaccines made by Pfizer and Moderna.

This is particularly relevant for Britain, where youngsters are not given the Astrazeneca jab because of an increased risk of blood clots.

The evidence from studies shows it is unlikely for boys to suffer either heart problems from the vaccine or be hospitalised by Covid.

The findings come as Prof Chris Whitty, the Chief Medical Officer, prepares to advise ministers on whether there is a wider benefit to society from vaccinating youngsters.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) last week said the “margin of benefit” of jabbing 12- to 15-year-olds was “considered too small”.

However, Sajid Javid, the Health Secretary, asked Prof Whitty and the chief medical officers from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to “consider the vaccination of 12- to 15-year-olds from a broader perspective”. Research published yesterday will exacerbate concerns about whether the risk of vaccines outweighs the benefits for healthy children.

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 after their second dose of vaccine. They compared this with the likelihood of children needing hospital treatment for Covid, at times of low, moderate and high rates of hospitalisation. They found that the risk of heart complications for boys aged 12-15 following the vaccine during periods of moderate hospitalisation was 162.2 per million, the highest of all the groups they looked at.

The second highest rate was boys aged 16-17 (94.0 per million). The risk of a healthy boy needing hospital treatment for Covid in the next 120 days is 26.7 per million, so the risk they face from vaccine-induced heart complications is 6.1 times greater than that posed by the virus.