The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) added "inflammation of the heart (myocarditis or pericarditis)" to its list of side effects that may occur after receiving the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines. As of press time, the MHRA still has not put out a formal announcement regarding this change.
Stephen Matthews, a health editor for the MailOnline, noted that heart inflammation was not listed as a potential side effect until sometime during the first week of July.
The MHRA insisted that heart inflammation is still an "extremely rare" occurrence, and even if a vaccinated person does experience it, it will be "typically mild." The agency and many British cardiologists continue to insist that the benefits of getting either the Pfizer or Moderna coronavirus vaccines still clearly outweigh the risks of getting the virus.
The MHRA made the change after it conducted a review of 111 suspected cases of heart inflammation in the country that were allegedly linked to either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.
The agency noted that it only investigated cases involving the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines. It did not have sufficient evidence to recommend anything regarding the AstraZeneca vaccine.
The cases of heart inflammation were most common among younger men and usually occurred within 10 days after they received the second dose of the vaccine.
The announcement warned healthcare workers handling vaccinations to be alert to the signs and symptoms of pericarditis and myocarditis. It also wanted vaccinated individuals who notice these symptoms to seek immediate medical attention.
The symptoms of heart inflammation the MHRA pointed out include the onset of chest pain, shortness of breath, palpitations and arrhythmias.
Dr. June Raine, chief executive of the MHRA, announced the review results and the agency's recommendations. But she also added that the cases were "mild" and that the risk of heart inflammation was very rare.
The changes to the MHRA's recommendations come several months after the regulator shrugged off initial concerns regarding heart inflammation. This followed after Israel reported multiple cases of heart inflammation following injection of coronavirus vaccine doses.
Recognition of heart inflammation as side effect "completely changes" debate on child vaccinations
Health experts in the U.K. said the addition of heart inflammation to the list of side effects for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines "completely changes" the country's debate regarding vaccinating children. People under 18 years old in the U.K. are already discouraged from getting the British-made Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine because of its own links to deadly blood clots in young people. (Related: Young adults and adolescents are suffering heart inflammation caused by COVID-19 vaccines – cases skyrocket to at least 200 TIMES MORE than "expected" by CDC.)
Both the British government and vaccination policy experts in the U.K. have already expressed their hesitation to allow children to receive COVID-19 vaccines.
Secretary of State for International Trade Liz Truss said the Joint Committee on Vaccination and immunization would not recommend vaccinations for anyone in the U.K. under 18 years of age.
"The risk of death [from COVID-19 in children] is one in a million. That's not a figure I'm plucking from the air, that's a quantifiable risk," said Calum Semple, a member of the government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies.
Academics in Britain are also questioning whether it is a good idea to give coronavirus vaccines to children. Some of these academics are looking at the data that strongly suggests that children are relatively safe from the direct effects of COVID-19.
Dr. Elizabeth Whittaker, a consultant in pediatric infectious diseases at Imperial College London, said her data suggests the coronavirus vaccines would need to be proven to be "very low risk." This is the only way anybody can justify giving the vaccines "to all healthy children."
Whittaker's warning followed a study she was involved in that showed only 25 young people in England died from COVID-19 during the first year of the pandemic. This number represents just 0.005 percent of all infections in the country. Furthermore, 19 of the deaths were in children with underlying health conditions that made them more vulnerable to the virus.
Learn more about the dangerous side effects of the COVID-19 vaccines by reading the latest articles on Vaccines.news.
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