New data shows an important benefit of COVID vaccines – lowering your risk of cardiovascular events after an infection.
As if a nasty illness, hospitalization, or long COVID were not enough, the risk of a cardiovascular event such as a heart attack or stroke is higher for weeks (or even months) after a COVID infection.
A recent study from the UK got this Nerdy Girl’s attention because of its high-quality data and solid research design. Researchers had access to over 30 million electronic patient records from the National Health Service (NHS) in England, linked to comprehensive SARS-CoV-2 testing and vaccination data. Compared to similar healthcare data in the US that often comes from specialized populations like Veterans, these data are largely representative of the whole population. With this data, the researchers could look at whether the risk of cardiovascular disease was higher in the weeks after a COVID infection compared to before and whether this association changed after vaccines were available. This was not a randomized control trial where vaccination was randomly assigned and compared to a placebo. But since the analysis compares people before and after vaccines were available, we can have more confidence that any differences in risk are due to the vaccine and not the underlying characteristics of people who choose to get vaccinated (usually healthier and more health conscious people).
Major findings:
· People with a COVID-19 infection had a much higher risk of a heart attack or stroke for at least four weeks compared to before infection or those without a COVID infection.
· This difference in risk was highest in the first four weeks after infection, but some elevated risk persisted for up to two years in people infected before vaccines were available.
· People infected after vaccination still had a higher risk of a cardiovascular event in the first four weeks, but the risk was much lower compared to the pre-vaccine period and went back to baseline more quickly.
Source: Impact of vaccination on the association of COVID-19 with cardiovascular diseases: An OpenSAFELY cohort study. Nat Commun 15, 2173 (2024). Note: Hazard ratios of 1.0 represent no elevated risk, >1.0 =elevated relative risk.
COVID-19 infections likely increase cardiovascular risk through immune activation and inflammation, which can increase clotting and destabilize atherosclerotic plaques. Vaccines may reduce this inflammatory response by lessening the severity of infection. While COVID has brought needed attention to the links between infections and cardiovascular disease, we already knew that other infections, including influenza, can increase the risk of heart attacks or strokes. An underappreciated fact is that the flu vaccine significantly reduces the risk of heart attacks and strokes in the following year, based on data from randomized clinical trials.
This is a reminder that if you never got the updated COVID vaccine last fall, you can still get it. COVID is not just a winter virus, so don’t hesitate. If you got the updated shot more than four months ago and are over age 65 or immunocompromised in the US, you can now get an additional spring dose to top up your protection. Additional Spring doses are also available at no cost for those 75 and over in the UK. And in exciting news for our UK Nerds 🇬🇧, updated COVID vaccines for younger ages are finally available for purchase at pharmacies in the UK (albeit a bit pricier than we’d prefer).
BOTTOM LINE: COVID (and flu) vaccination reduces the risk of cardiovascular events after infection. This is another great reason to stay up to date on your vaccines!
Stay safe, stay well.
