HT15. COVID-19 vaccinated individuals may be ill…See more

The findings, published in Science Translational Medicine, represent a significant step forward in understanding how the immune system can, in rare cases, turn its powerful defenses against the very organ it is meant to protect.

A Rare but Real Risk

Before diving into the science, it is worth putting the risk in perspective. mRNA COVID-19 vaccines have been administered several billion times worldwide and have been scrutinized extensively for safety. The rate of vaccine-associated myocarditis after a first dose is approximately one in every 140,000 people vaccinated. That figure rises to roughly one in 32,000 after a second dose. Among male vaccinees aged 30 and under — the group most affected — the rate climbs to about one in 16,750.