Huge study addresses fear of major COVID-19 vaccine health effects

A huge study, which will continue to look into the matter for the next two years, reports that there are no serious health consequences associated with getting the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines. The conclusion is based on an analysis of data on more than 6 million patients who received either mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, with researchers calling the data 'reassuring.'

The study comes from researchers with Kaiser Permanente and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Though the research will continue for another two years, the researchers have published their findings thus far, reporting that an analysis of health data on 6.2 million vaccinated people reveals no serious health effects from the vaccines.

The study focused specifically on the mRNA vaccines, pulling data from patient records from regions where Kaiser Permanente operates. The findings are based on data from December 2020 to June 26, 2021; the early findings should help reassure vaccine-hesitant individuals who have become fearful of the vaccine due to the mass of misinformation.

The researchers focused on 23 possible health effects that may occur after vaccination, including things like seizures, cardiovascular issues, Bell's palsy, multisystem inflammation syndrome, and more. The researchers were also careful to, among other things, note whether these health problems began before or after the patient received their COVID-19 vaccine.

The work involved establishing a 'signal' threshold and, using statistical analysis, determining whether any of the health incidents exceeded it. None of the possible health consequences reached the threshold. The researchers detail incidences of confirmed pericarditis and myocarditis in young people, noting 34 cases that involved patients ages 12 to 39.

Based on the data, the researchers report there's a risk of 6.3 new myocarditis cases for every million vaccine doses in the first week following vaccination. The study notes that one's risk of developing myocarditis from COVID-19 is much greater than the risk from the vaccines that protect against it.