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Increased emergency cardiovascular events among under-40 population in Israel during vaccine rollout and third
Christopher L F Sun1,2, Eli Jaffe3,4, Retsef Levi5
1Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 100 Main Street, Cambridge, MA, 02142-1347, USA.
Insights
Emergency calls for cardiac arrest and acute coronary syndrome in young adults increased significantly following COVID-19 vaccination. This suggests potential cardiovascular vaccine side-effects warranting further investigation into vaccine safety surveillance.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Epidemiology
- Cardiology
Background:
- Cardiovascular adverse events are linked to COVID-19 infection and vaccines.
- Enhancing vaccine safety surveillance with diverse data sources is crucial for understanding COVID-19 vaccine safety.
- Emergency Medical Services (EMS) data offers a unique perspective on public health trends.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the association between EMS call volumes for cardiac arrest and acute coronary syndrome in 16-39 year olds.
- To explore potential links between these calls and COVID-19 infection rates and vaccination uptake in Israel.
- To assess the utility of EMS data in identifying public health trends related to vaccine safety.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a unique dataset from Israel National Emergency Medical Services (EMS) spanning 2019-2021.
- Employed Negative Binomial regression models to analyze weekly emergency call counts.
- Correlated call volumes with COVID-19 infection rates and COVID-19 vaccine administration rates (1st and 2nd doses) in the 16-39 age group.
Main Results:
- A significant increase of over 25% in EMS calls for cardiac arrest and acute coronary syndrome was observed in January-May 2021 compared to 2019-2020.
- Weekly emergency call counts were significantly associated with the rates of administered 1st and 2nd vaccine doses.
- No significant association was found between emergency call counts and COVID-19 infection rates.
Conclusions:
- Findings raise concerns about potential undetected severe cardiovascular side-effects from COVID-19 vaccines in young adults.
- The study highlights the established causal link between vaccines and myocarditis, a cause of cardiac arrest.
- Recommends incorporating EMS and other health data into surveillance systems to monitor vaccine safety and public health trends.
Abstract:
Cardiovascular adverse conditions are caused by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infections and reported as side-effects of the COVID-19 vaccines. Enriching current vaccine safety surveillance systems with additional data sources may improve the understanding of COVID-19 vaccine safety. Using a unique dataset from Israel National Emergency Medical Services (EMS) from 2019 to 2021, the study aims to evaluate the association between the volume of cardiac arrest and acute coronary syndrome EMS calls in the 16-39-year-old population with potential factors including COVID-19 infection and vaccination rates. An increase of over 25% was detected in both call types during January-May 2021, compared with the years 2019-2020. Using Negative Binomial regression models, the weekly emergency call counts were significantly associated with the rates of 1st and 2nd vaccine doses administered to this age group but were not with COVID-19 infection rates. While not establishing causal relationships, the findings raise concerns regarding vaccine-induced undetected severe cardiovascular side-effects and underscore the already established causal relationship between vaccines and myocarditis, a frequent cause of unexpected cardiac arrest in young individuals. Surveillance of potential vaccine side-effects and COVID-19 outcomes should incorporate EMS and other health data to identify public health trends (e.g., increased in EMS calls), and promptly investigate potential underlying causes.
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