COVID-19 Vaccination Linked to Lower Risk for Postinfection Outcomes

WEDNESDAY, March 13, 2024 (HealthDay News) — COVID-19 vaccination is associated with a reduced risk for post-severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection cardiac and thromboembolic outcomes, according to a study published online March 12 in Heart.

Núria Mercadé-Besora, from the University of Oxford, and colleagues conducted a staggered cohort study based on national vaccination campaigns using electronic health records from the United Kingdom, Spain, and Estonia to examine the association between COVID-19 vaccination and the risk for post-COVID-19 cardiac and thromboembolic complications. Outcomes included heart failure, venous thromboembolism (VTE), and arterial thrombosis/thromboembolism (ATE) recorded at 0 to 30, 31 to 90, 91 to 180, and 181 to 365 days after SARS-CoV-2 infection.

The analyses included 10.17 million vaccinated and 10.39 million unvaccinated individuals. The researchers found that vaccination was associated with reduced risks for acute and postacute COVID-19 VTE, ATE, and heart failure, with meta-analytic subhazard ratios of 0.22, 0.53, and 0.45 and 0.53, 0.72, and 0.61 for 0 to 30 days and 91 to 180 days after SARS-CoV-2 infection, respectively.

“Vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 substantially reduced the risk of acute post-COVID-19 thromboembolic and cardiac complications, probably through a reduction in the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection and the severity of COVID-19 disease due to vaccine-induced immunity,” the authors write.

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