Recent Covid vaccination appears to have broad cardioprotective effects, according to a new study, which found reduced risk of events like heart attacks and stroke, hospitalization, and death in people who had received the vaccine.
The study, published in JAMA Internal Medicine on Monday along with several other Covid-related papers, followed more than one million veterans who received flu vaccinations at Veterans Affairs health care facilities in 2024; about a third of them also received a Covid vaccine.
Infection with SARS CoV-2 is known to increase risk of adverse cardiac events. In the eight months after the veterans were vaccinated, the researchers found, those who received Covid vaccines (either mRNA or another type) had a roughly 38% lower risk of Covid-associated major cardiovascular events. This benefit was greatest for those 75 and older and those with chronic conditions like kidney and lung disease.
To the researchers’ surprise, Covid vaccination was also tied to a nearly 24% reduction in all-cause cardiac events — not just those with a documented Covid diagnosis. The authors said this could translate to prevention of approximately 3,500 major cardiac events and 2,400 deaths annually per one million people.
