Israeli Study finds 25% increase in Heart-Related Emergency Calls for People aged under 40 since mass Covid Injection

A study from Israel has confirmed a strong correlation between a massive increase in emergency cardiovascular events among people under the age of 40 and the beginning of the country’s mass Covid vaccination program.

“While not establishing causal relationships,” the authors wrote, “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.”

The study, ‘Increased emergency cardiovascular events among under-40 population in Israel during vaccine rollout and third COVID-19 wave’ published in Nature on 28 April, used data from Israel’s National Emergency Medical Services (“EMS”) between 2019 and 2021 and evaluated emergency calls among 16- to 39-year-olds across Israel “with potential factors including Covid-19 infection and vaccination rates.”

“This study leverages a unique dataset of all EMS CA [cardiac arrest] and ACS [acute coronary syndrome] calls in Israel over two and half years that span 14 months prior to the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, 10 months that include two waves of the Covid-19 pandemic, and 6 months with a third wave of the pandemic parallel to the vaccination rollout among the 16-year-old and over population.”

The researchers found a 25% increase in emergency calls for CA and ACS between January to May 2021, compared with the same period in 2019 and 2020. This coincides with the beginning of Israel’s Covid mass vaccination program which began in late December 2020. Israel primarily used Pfizer’s Covid injection.

“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,” the study authors wrote.

Increased emergency cardiovascular events among under-40 population in Israel during vaccine rollout and third COVID-19 wave, Nature, 28 April 2022

“The increase in CA and ACS calls starting early January 2021 seems to track closely the administration of 2nd dose vaccines. This observation is consistent with prior findings that associated more significant adverse events, including myocarditis to the 2nd dose of the vaccine. A second increase in the CA and ACS call counts is observed starting April 18th, 2021, which seems to track an increase of single-dose vaccination to individuals who recovered from Covid-19 infections.”

The researchers noted that their study aligns with previous investigations that found the overall incidence rate of heart complications like cardiac arrest “were not always associated with higher Covid-19 infection rates at a population level.”

There was also no connection between hospitalisation rates for myocardial infarctions with the initial Covid wave compared to pre-pandemic baselines in Israel.

Twelve studies showing cardiovascular and myocarditis complications linked to Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca Covid injections

Dias, L. et al. Cerebral venous thrombosis after BNT162b2 mRNA SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. J. Stroke Cerebrovasc. Dis. 66, 105906 (2021). Article Google Scholar
Kantarcioglu, B. et al. An update on the pathogenesis of COVID-19 and the reportedly rare thrombotic events following vaccination. Clin. Appl. Thromb. Hemost. 27, 10760296211021498 (2021). CAS PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar
Surveillance of Myocarditis (Inflammation of the Heart Muscle) Cases Between December 2020 and May 2021 (Including). https://www.gov.il/en/departments/news/01062021-03
Vogel, G. & Couzin-Frankel, J. Israel reports link between rare cases of heart inflammation and COVID-19 vaccination in young men. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/06/israel-reports-link-between-rare-cases-heart-inflammation-and-covid-19-vaccination (2021).
Wise, J. Covid-19: Should we be worried about reports of myocarditis and pericarditis after mRNA vaccines?. BMJ 373, n1635. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n1635 (2021). Article PubMed Google Scholar
Larson, K. F. et al. Myocarditis after BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273 vaccination. Circulation https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.121.055913 (2021). Article PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar
Bozkurt, B., Kamat, I. & Hotez, P. J. Myocarditis with COVID-19 mRNA vaccines. Circulation 144, 471–484 (2021). CAS Article Google Scholar
Verma, A. K., Lavine, K. J. & Lin, C.-Y. Myocarditis after Covid-19 mRNA vaccination. N. Engl. J. Med. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMc2109975 (2021). Article PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar
Patone M, Mei XW, Handunnetthi L, Dixon S, Zaccardi F, Shankar-Hari M, Watkinson P, Khunti K, Harnden A, Coupland CAC, Channon KM, Mills NL, Sheikh A, Hippisley-Cox J. Risks of myocarditis, pericarditis, and cardiac arrhythmias associated with COVID-19 vaccination or SARS-CoV-2 infection. Nat Med. 2022 Feb;28(2):410-422. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34907393/
V-safe. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/safety/vsafe.html
COVID-19 Vaccine safety updates Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) June 23, 2021. https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/acip/meetings/downloads/slides-2021-06/03-COVID-Shimabukuro-508.pdf
Sun CLF, Jaffe E, Levi R. Increased emergency cardiovascular events among under-40 population in Israel during vaccine rollout and third COVID-19 wave. Sci Rep. 2022 Apr 28;12(1):6978. doi: 10.1038/s41598 022-10928-z. PMID: 35484304; PMCID: PMC9048615.