Covid vaccination cut risk of adverse heart events, large study finds

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https://www.statnews.com/2026/06/15/covid-vaccination-cardiovascular-protection-jama-study/

Covid vaccination cut risk of adverse heart events, large study finds
Vaccine may be cardioprotective, especially for older adults and those with comorbidities

By Lauren Chan

June 15, 2026

AAAS Mass Media Science & Engineering Fellow

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The study, published in JAMA Internal Medicine on Monday along with several other Covid-related papers, followed more than 1 million veterans who received flu vaccinations at Veterans Affairs health care facilities in 2024; about a third of them also received a Covid vaccine.

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To the researchers’ surprise, Covid vaccination was also tied to a nearly 24% reduction in all-cause cardiac events — not just those with a documented Covid diagnosis. The authors said this could translate to prevention of approximately 3,500 major cardiac events and 2,400 deaths annually per 1 million people.

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While Al-Aly’s findings indicate cardioprotective benefits of Covid vaccines, these results may surprise some because vaccine-related myocarditis — inflammation of the heart muscle — was an early concern about mRNA formulations. The side effect was seen mostly in young men. Notably, studies have found that vaccine-related myocarditis is significantly milder than myocarditis resulting from an actual Covid infection.

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A study funded by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control also released on Monday in JAMA Network Open, indicating similar effectiveness for Covid vaccines in the 2025-2026 season for older European adults. The researchers, including numerous European epidemiologists and public health experts, evaluated individuals 60 years old and above across multiple European countries and found approximately 55% effectiveness in protecting participants from symptomatic disease in the two months after vaccination. While vaccine uptake has decreased in Europe, the authors told STAT that the new annual vaccines are updated based on “COVID-19 vaccine strain(s) that match circulating viruses and thereby are likely to be more effective.” The low uptake rate and high effectiveness of vaccines, the paper says, “suggests missed opportunities for preventing symptomatic COVID-19 among unvaccinated vulnerable groups.”

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Robert Califf, cardiologist and former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration has written: “There are many, many studies now that show that vaccinations of various types seem to reduce the risk of chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease … this is not inconsistent with what the other studies have shown."