A new study has found that people who received COVID-19 vaccines had fewer heart attacks, strokes, and other heart-related problems than unvaccinated people. The study, published in Nature Communications, brings strong reassurance for millions of people who were concerned about the long-term safety of COVID-19 vaccines.
It shows that vaccines are not only effective in protecting people from severe infection, but they may also reduce some of the most common heart conditions.
This research is one of the largest studies ever done on the relationship between vaccines and heart health. Scientists from the Universities of Cambridge, Bristol, and Edinburgh worked with the British Heart Foundation Data Science Centre to look at the health records of 46 million adults in England. These records were taken from general practitioners, hospitals, and national death registries between December 2020 and January 2022.
The researchers compared how often people had cardiovascular diseases before vaccination and after vaccination. They also compared vaccinated people with unvaccinated people. Because the study included almost the entire adult population of England, the researchers had enough data to clearly measure the effect of vaccination.
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The study found a noticeable reduction in heart attacks and strokes after people received their vaccines. In the weeks after the first dose, the number of heart attacks and strokes was about ten percent lower.
After the second dose, the numbers decreased even more. People who received the AstraZeneca vaccine had up to a 27 percent lower rate of these conditions. Similarly, people who received the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine had up to a 20 percent lower rate.
The study also examined venous thrombotic events, including pulmonary embolism and deep vein thrombosis. These conditions also became less common after vaccination. The researchers noted that the reductions were consistent across multiple groups and time periods.
Dr. Samantha Ip from the University of Cambridge, one of the lead researchers, said the extremely large dataset allowed the team to understand the relationship between vaccines and heart health.
“We studied COVID-19 vaccines and cardiovascular disease in nearly 46 million adults in England,” she said. “We found a similar or lower incidence of common cardiovascular diseases, such as heart attacks and strokes, following each vaccination than before or without vaccination.”She also explained that the study adds to growing evidence that COVID-19 vaccines have saved millions of lives worldwide.
Experts say there is a clear reason vaccinated people have fewer heart problems. Scientists know that COVID-19 infection itself increases the risk of heart attacks, strokes, and blood clots. When the virus reaches the body, it can cause inflammation in the heart and blood vessels, especially in severe cases. Because vaccines help prevent severe COVID-19, they indirectly protect the heart as well. As a result, vaccinated people are less likely to experience these serious conditions.
The study confirmed that rare side effects can happen. For example, myocarditis or pericarditis can occur after mRNA vaccines. Similarly, rare clotting conditions can appear after adenovirus-based vaccines. These effects have been known for some time and remain extremely uncommon. The new study did not find any new heart-related risks from any COVID-19 vaccine used in the United Kingdom.
Professor William Whiteley from the University of Edinburgh said the results should give strong confidence to the public. He explained, “This England-wide study offers patients reassurance of the cardiovascular safety of first, second, and booster doses of COVID-19 vaccines.”
He added, “It demonstrates that second and booster doses bring fewer common cardiovascular events, including heart attacks and strokes, after vaccination. These benefits outweigh the very rare cardiovascular complications.”
The researchers completed this study because of the large amount of linked health data that exists in England. NHS England provided a secure digital environment where researchers could analyze data from different sources safely and privately. This made it possible for scientists to look at millions of health records while keeping personal information protected.
Dr. Venexia Walker from the University of Bristol said the scale of the data made a big difference. She explained that researchers could not have studied different vaccine combinations and rare side effects without such a large dataset and strong cooperation. This cooperation spanned institutions across the country.
