Study saying COVID-19 vaccines cause heart inflammation that has been hyped by anti-vaccines, withdrawn due to miscalculation

• A preprint study said 1 in 1,000 recipients of the COVID-19 vaccine could get myocarditis.

• The study was withdrawn after a miscalculation overestimated the risk of heart disease.

• COVID-19 is safe to get, and there’s a higher risk of getting myocarditis from COVID-19 than jab.

A preprint study first published on MedRxiv that claimed a 1 in 1,000 risk of contracting myocarditis from COVID-19 vaccination has been withdrawn due to miscalculations.

MedRxiv is a website that publishes studies that have not yet been peer reviewed, according to Reuters.

The study was first published on September 16 and conducted by researchers at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute. It has been widely used to promote the idea that the COVID-19 vaccine is unsafe to use.

However, the study was withdrawn due to a miscalculation, Reuters reported.

The rate of myocarditis – the inflammation of the heart muscle – was calculated by dividing the number of COVID-19 vaccines in Ottawa by the number of incidences of heart disease.

According to their calculations, the risk of myocarditis was 1 in 1,000 or 0.1%.

However, the numbers used by the study were wrong. The authors greatly underestimated the quantity of vaccines delivered, giving a number 25 times lower than the actual quantity.

They first said that the number of vaccines delivered was 32,379 – when it was actually 854,930.

As a result of this miscalculation, the study was withdrawn on September 24, with the researchers saying in a statement: “Our reported incidence appeared to be significantly inflated by an incorrectly small denominator (i.e. the number of doses administered during the study period). We looked at the data available at Open Ottawa and found that there had indeed been a major underestimation, with the actual number of doses administered being over 800,000.

“In order to avoid misleading our colleagues or the general public and the press, we, the authors, unanimously wish to remove this article due to incorrect incidence data,” they added.

The story continues

The University of Ottawa Heart Institute also issued a statement of apology for any misinformation released as a result of the study.

Using data from the Vaccine Safety Datalink, the CDC informed Reuters that other studies showed that there was no “significant association between myocarditis / pericarditis and mRNA vaccines”, looking at all age groups, although they cautioned “an association between mRNA vaccines and myocarditis / pericarditis in younger subjects”, particularly in young men.

However, a preprint study on the prevalence of myocarditis in young men found that they are six times more likely to develop myocarditis from COVID-19 than from the vaccine.

The CDC continues to stress the importance of getting the vaccine, saying any known risks of the COVID-19 vaccine are more than outweighed by the benefits.

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