Last Updated on March 23, 2022 by Neelam Singh
Quick Take
On January 14, 2022, an Australian politician shared a live stream session on YouTube that shows different Australian health officials providing a COVID-19 update. A screenshot of this video has been shared by multiple social media users, along with the claim of one Australian health official “admitting” people vaccinated against Covid-19 are dying from myocarditis. We fact-checked and found the claim to be mostly false.
The Claim
A video titled “COVID-19 Update: 14 January 2022”, live-streamed by an Australian politician has gathered more than 1,943 views till now.
Referring to this video, a Twitter user wrote, “Australia has finally accepted the problem of heart attack (myocarditis) in double XYZ people. This says Australia Queensland chief health officer Dr John Gerrard”.
Similar posts have been shared by multiple social media users online.
Fact Check
What is myocarditis?
Myocarditis is an inflammation of the heart muscle called the myocardium. The inflammation puts pressure on the ability of the heart to pump and induce irregular heartbeats.
Did the Australian health official say the covid-19 vaccine increased deaths due to myocarditis?
It doesn’t seem so. The Australian health official was asked about the deaths happening at home. In response, the official claimed to be concerned about deaths that have followed a pattern of illness for a short period and then sudden death at home. Moreover, the official further claimed that a similar pattern of deaths is reported in Australia and around the world.
He nowhere said that people after the covid vaccination are dying from myocarditis.
Is myocarditis related to covid-19 virus?
It seems so. The available literature suggests that the covid-19 virus is a risk factor for myocarditis in some people. A (2022) study has shown that viral infections can cause myocarditis. As Covid-19 is also a viral infection, various recently published studies have established Covid-19 as a risk factor of myocarditis.
A few recently published studies have also linked the Covid-19 vaccine with myocarditis. But their results are conflicting because some could find a few cases of vaccine-induced myocarditis. Whereas others could not find adverse events over short-term follow-up.
A (2021) blog published on the Yale Medicine website suggests, “At this point, it’s too early to tell what may be causing the recently reported myocarditis cases”.
From the available literature, we can conclude that the risk of myocarditis ‘should be considered in the context of the benefits of COVID-19 vaccination’, as suggested by the (2022) study.
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