Vaccination against Covid-19 has significantly reduced the risk of developing some cardiovascular problems associated with infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The results of a study published this month in Heart Magazine tested the effectiveness of vaccines in preventing heart disease up to a year after they were taken.
Researchers have found that the likelihood of developing heart failure or suffering thromboembolic phenomena – form blood clots – decreased in the first year after the introduction of the Covid-19 vaccine.
Covid-19 vaccines were approved on an emergency basis in December 2020 and have been shown to be highly effective against SARS-CoV-2 infection, subsequent hospitalization, and even death. However, several questions have been raised about possible complications associated with taking the vaccines. More recently, mRNA vaccines have been found to be associated with a risk of rare cases of myocarditis.
The vaccine has been proven effective in preventing infection and reducing the severity of Covid-19 symptoms. But the emergence of new variants and the decline in the vaccine’s protective effect over time is increasing interest in understanding whether the vaccine can reduce complications following SARS-CoV-2 infection.
For this study, the medical records of more than 20 million people from the UK, Spain and Estonia were analyzed. According to the report, 10.17 million people have been vaccinated while 10.39 million have not.
Researchers showed a significant reduction in the risk (45-81%) of developing heart failure or suffering. thromboembolic events in the first four weeks after identification of a vaccine-associated Covid-19 infection. In the post-Covid-19 phase and up to one year, the likelihood of developing these heart diseases decreased to a lesser extent (24-58%).
Although this study helps to understand the benefits of vaccination on the risk of developing cardiovascular disease in the year after vaccination, more research is still needed on the possible reduction in risk reduction over time and the impact of revaccination.