Increase in heart attacks not caused by vaccine: Experts

ISTANBUL

Experts have denied a link between the COVID-19 vaccine and the increasing number of heart attacks, which has become a hot topic of debate as people raised their concerns that the heart attack cases seen in the past few months of winter are an outcome of the vaccine shot.

The effects of vaccines, which have a great protective power in the fight against COVID-19, continue to be discussed.

Many people alleged that the vaccine is the reason for the recent increase in sudden deaths and heart attacks.

Stating that the cases of heart attacks have not increased compared to the pre-coronavirus period, physician Ertuğrul Okuyan pointed out that the recent heart attacks are a seasonal variation.

“Even before the COVID-19 entered our lives, we saw the peak of heart attacks during these periods. For this reason, as a physician dealing directly with heart attacks, I say: I think this increase is not experienced after the coronavirus vaccine, but is an usual seasonal increase,” Okuyan explained.

By decreasing the risk of infection, the vaccine reduces the effects of COVID-19 on the cardiovascular system and heart muscle, Okuyan stated.

“Therefore, it would be wrong to attribute the increase in heart attacks to vaccination. On the contrary, we see that the vaccine reduces the problems in the heart as it alleviates the course of the disease,” he noted.

Another physician Ahmet Taha Alper also agrees with Okutyan on the point that vaccination prevents a heart attack, as he stated that recent studies reveals that in addition to COVID-19 vaccine, flu vaccines also reduce heart attacks by about 25 percent.

“There is a perception that ‘let’s stay natural.’ Man is able to continue his existence despite nature. Nature is partly our friend and partly our enemy. People most often experience health problems due to natural reasons. The philosophy of ‘something natural is good’ harms us,” Alper expressed.

“The evidence that shows us whether something is good for us is studies determined by the principles of mind. We should believe in science rather on hearsay,” Alper added.