Israeli study links small number of heart inflammation cases with Pfizer Covid vaccine

Drug manufacturer says it has not observed higher rate of condition than would normally be expected in general population

An ultra-Orthodox Jewish man receives a vaccination against coronavirus in Israel (REUTERS)

Researchers in Israel say they have discovered a small number of heart inflammation cases among mainly young men that they believe could be linked to the Pfizer Covid vaccine.

The condition, known as myocarditis, was reported in 275 of the roughly 5 million people who had received the jab in the six months that they have been on offer.

Most of those reporting the condition were under the age of 30, with the link observed most strongly in male patients aged 16 to 19. The vast majority had only mild symptoms.

Symptoms include tightness in the chest, shortness of breath, a high temperature, tiredness and fatigue, and palpitations.

Pfizer said it has not observed a higher rate of the condition than would normally be expected in the general population. The drug manufacturer said it was aware of the Israeli study but that no causal link to its vaccine had been established.

Israeli health officials first raised concerns about a possible link between the vaccine and myocarditis in April.

Most patients who experienced heart inflammation spent fewer than five days in hospital and symptoms were classified as mild in 95 per cent of cases, according to the study produced by three teams of experts for Israel’s health ministry.

The report found “there is a probable link between receiving the second dose [of Pfizer] vaccine and the appearance of myocarditis among men aged 16 to 30”, the authors said in a statement reported by Reuters.

Dror Mevorach, who led the panel investigating any links between the Pfizer vaccine and heart inflammation, was quoted by Science magazine as saying the findings were “very suggestive of a causal nature”. “I am convinced there is a relationship,” he said.

Nachman Ash, the country’s pandemic response coordinator, told an Israeli radio station that the “efficacy of the vaccine outweighs the risk”.

Last month, a US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention advisory group recommended further study of the possibility of a link between myocarditis and mRNA vaccines, which include those from Pfizer and Moderna.

CDC monitoring systems had not found more cases than would be expected in the population, but the advisory group said in a statement that members felt healthcare providers should be made aware of reports of a “potential adverse event”.

Myocarditis can be triggered by viral infections including Covid-19.

The British Heart Foundation website says most people with the condition recover without any complications, although in rare cases when inflammation is severe, there can be damage to the heart.

Additional reporting by Reuters