​​​​​​​Incidence of heart attacks and strokes was lower after COVID-19 vaccination, finds study of 46 million adults

A new study, published today in Nature Communications and involving nearly the whole adult population of England, has found that the incidence of heart attacks and strokes was lower after COVID-19 vaccination than before or without vaccination. Research led by the Universities of Cambridge, Bristol and Edinburgh and enabled by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) Data Science Centre at Health Data Research UK analysed de-identified health records from 46 million adults in England between 8 December 2020 and 23 January 2022. Data scientists compared the incidence of cardiovascular diseases after vaccination with the incidence before or without vaccination, during the first two years of the vaccination programme. The study showed that the incidence of arterial thromboses, such as heart attacks and strokes, was up to 10% lower in the 13 to 24 weeks after the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Following a second dose, the incidence was up to 27% lower...