With the speed at which COVID vaccines were produced, as well as news breaking events, many have speculated if the COVID vaccine is behind cardiac deaths in young adults.
This speculation was heightened when Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field after experiencing a cardiac arrest in 2023. While health professionals pointed to the very specific blow he sustained, the event only exaggerated the vaccine theory.
Thus, a CDC study was undertaken to analyze the connection between those who had received the vaccine and cardiac arrest in young adults. The study, published in early April, analyzed over 1,300 death certificates of individuals aged 16 to 30 who died from cardiac arrest between 2021 and 2022. In the 100 days after receiving the vaccine, 40 died; two of those due to underlying illness and one from an “undetermined cause of death.” The deaths of the other individuals were due to COVID-19 and they were unvaccinated.
“The data do not support an association of COVID-19 vaccination with sudden cardiac death among previously healthy young persons,” the CDC said in the report.
While the COVID vaccine has been linked to a minor risk of heart inflammation, called myocarditis, it is typically mild and most people fully recover in a few days.
