Last Updated on February 13, 2023 by Neelam Singh
Quick Take
A social media user has shared a post referring to a journal claiming Covid vaccine causes 5x more myocarditis than Covid. We fact-checked and found the claim to be Mostly False.
The Claim
A Twitter post referred to a research paper published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) to claim that Covid vaccine causes more myocarditis than Covid virus. For young people, the risk is even higher.
Fact Check
Does Covid vaccine cause more myocarditis than the virus?
Not enough evidence. Even the research paper referred to by the claimed social media post does not claim the same.
It referred to a recent research paper published in 2023. This BMJ study titled ‘Clinical outcomes of myocarditis after SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination in four Nordic countries: population based cohort study’ investigated clinical outcomes of myocarditis due to mRNA vaccines against Covid in comparison with other types of myocarditis.
We researched and found that the BMJ paper does not discuss rates to compare the frequency of myocarditis per 100,00 individuals. A similar fact check done by Leadstories.com has taken the reference of an experienced immunologist who has explained that the social media user has not properly interpreted the conclusion of the research. Besides this, one of the co-authors of the study named Dr. Anders Husby confirmed leadstories.com that his research concluded that the outcome of myocarditis due to SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination was less severe than for other types of myocarditis.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has shared a tweet claiming myocarditis after Covid vaccination is rare. This means the risk of myocarditis after Covid vaccination exists but the condition is not affecting a large group of people. The existing evidence only suggests that the benefits outweigh the risk of Covid vaccine.