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Pre-Infection COVID-19 Vaccination and Long-Term Cardiovascular Outcomes in Adults Without Preexisting Cardiovascular

Abdul Qadeer1, Muneeb Khawar2, Michele Fouad3

  • 1The University of Texas Medical Branch Galveston Texas USA.

Health Science Reports
|August 8, 2026
PubMed

Insights

Pre-infection COVID-19 vaccination significantly reduced cardiovascular complications and mortality for up to three years in adults without prior cardiovascular disease (CVD). This highlights the sustained protective effect of vaccination against long-term COVID-19 related health issues.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiology
  • Infectious Diseases
  • Public Health

Background:

  • Long-term cardiovascular complications post-COVID-19 are a growing concern.
  • The protective impact of pre-infection vaccination on cardiovascular outcomes in individuals without pre-existing cardiovascular disease (CVD) requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To assess the association between COVID-19 vaccination before infection and major cardiovascular and related outcomes.
  • To evaluate these outcomes up to three years post-infection in adults without prior CVD.

Main Methods:

  • Retrospective cohort analysis of adults diagnosed with COVID-19 between March 2020 and December 2023.
  • 1:1 propensity score matching between vaccinated and unvaccinated patients based on 90 covariates.
  • Assessment of outcomes including cerebrovascular disease, circulatory system diseases, and all-cause mortality at one and three years post-infection.

Main Results:

  • Vaccination was linked to a significantly lower risk of the primary composite outcome at one year (RR, 0.21).
  • Significant reductions were observed at one year for cerebrovascular disease (RR, 0.35), circulatory system diseases (RR, 0.52), and all-cause mortality (RR, 0.20).
  • Protective effects persisted at three years for cerebrovascular disease (RR, 0.71) and circulatory system diseases (RR, 0.82).

Conclusions:

  • Pre-infection COVID-19 vaccination demonstrated sustained reductions in major cardiovascular events and mortality up to three years post-infection.
  • The findings support the long-term protective benefits of vaccination in preventing severe outcomes after COVID-19 in adults without prior CVD.
Abstract

Keywords:
COVID‐19cardiovascular outcomeslong‐term follow‐uppropensity score matchingvaccination

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