The overall risk of myopericarditis following COVID-19 vaccination is very low, affecting 18 people per million vaccine doses. A new study published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, confirms that this risk is comparable to or lower following COVID-19 vaccination than other non-COVID-19 vaccines.

The researchers examined international databases, looking at more than 400 million vaccination doses, to compare the risk of myopericarditis following vaccination against COVID-19 and other diseases such as influenza and smallpox.

They found no statistically significant difference between the incidence of myopericarditis following COVID-19 vaccination (18 cases per million doses) and other vaccinations (56 cases per million doses).

“Our research suggests that the overall risk of myopericarditis appears to be no different for this newly approved group of vaccines against COVID- 19, compared to vaccines against other diseases. The risk of such rare events should be balanced against the risk of myopericarditis from infection and these findings should bolster public confidence in the safety of COVID-19 vaccinations,” says Dr. Kollengode Ramanathan, a cardiac intensivist at National University Hospital, Singapore, and corresponding author.

Myopericarditis is a condition that causes inflammation of the heart muscle and, in some cases, severe permanent heart damage. It is most often caused by viruses but can also occur after vaccination in rare instances.