Sharjah24 – Reuters: Israel’s Health Ministry said on Tuesday it found the small number of heart inflammation cases observed mainly in young men who received Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine in Israel were likely linked to their vaccination.
Pfizer has said it has not observed a higher rate of the condition, known as myocarditis, than would normally be expected in the general population. On Tuesday, it did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Most patients who experienced heart inflammation spent no more than four days in hospital and 95% of the cases were classified as mild, according to the study, which the ministry said was conducted by three teams of experts.
The study found "there is a probable link between receiving the second dose (of Pfizer) vaccine and the appearance of myocarditis among men aged 16 to 30," it said in a statement.
According to the findings, such a link was observed more among men aged 16 to 19 than in other age groups.
A U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory group last month recommended further study of the possibility of a link between myocarditis and mRNA vaccines, which include those from Pfizer and Moderna Inc.
CDC monitoring systems had not found more cases than would be expected in the population, but the advisory group said in a statement that members felt healthcare providers should be made aware of reports of a "potential adverse event."
The Israeli ministry released the statement, which contained no recommendations, ahead of a widely expected decision on whether to begin vaccinating youngsters aged 12 to 15 in Israel.
It said a team examining that issue would make its recommendation to the ministry's director-general, but gave no date.
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