Myocarditis linked to small number of Pfizer recipients in Israel

The cases of myocarditis – inflammation of the heart muscle – have been observed mainly in young men who received the Pfizer vaccine in Israel, according to a report in Reuters.
 
Most of the 275 patients who experienced the condition spent no more than four days in the hospital and 95% of the cases were classified as mild, according to a study commissioned by the Israel Health Ministry to examine the issue.
 
‘There is a probable link between receiving the second dose [of the Pfizer] vaccine and the appearance of myocarditis among men aged 16–30,’ the study found.
 
The findings also indicate that the link was more commonly observed among men aged 16–19 than in other age groups.
 
Pfizer has issued a statement, saying that while the company is aware of the Israeli observations, that no causal link to its vaccine has been established.
 
In Australia, the Pfizer vaccine is currently provisionally approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) for people aged 16 years and older.
 
The vaccine rollout was thrown into disarray in April when the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) recommended the Pfizer vaccine as the preferred option for people aged under 50, after experts met to discuss emerging concerns over a link between a rare clotting syndrome and the AstraZeneca vaccine.
 
The rollout has since been hampered by issues of supply and soaring vaccine hesitancy due to people’s fears of complications associated with AstraZeneca. 
 
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) recently said that heart inflammation after receiving the Pfizer vaccine is not a cause for concern because such incidents occur at a similar rate to those in the general population.

Myocarditis has also been reported in some patients with COVID-19, and has been recognised as the cause of death in some patients with the virus.
 
However, a US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory group last month recommended further research into the possibility of a link between myocarditis and mRNA vaccines, which include Pfizer and Moderna.
 
The Australian Government has signed multiple deals to access 40 million doses of Pfizer and 20 million doses of Moderna, all of which will be manufactured overseas.

Meanwhile, the TGA on Thursday afternoon reported a futher eight cases of the rare blood-clotting condition, thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS), linked to AstraZeneca, including one person in intensive care.

According to the TGA, four of the eight new cases ‘have been assessed as confirmed TTS likely to be linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine’, while the other four are considered probable.

This takes the total number of AstraZeneca-linked TTS cases in Australia to 41 (31 confirmed and 10 probable). Of those:

• 23 have been discharged from hospital and are recovering
• four have left hospital but require outpatient medical care
• 13 patients remain in hospital
• one patient died in hospital.

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