No association between COVID-19 vaccination and sudden cardiac death

Abstract Background Global concerns regarding potential cardiac side effects of COVID-19 vaccination have been raised, particularly with regards to sudden cardiac death (SCD) in young people. Methods Data from April 2019 to March 2022 was obtained from a state-wide registry investigating all OHCAs aged 1-50 years old. Vaccination and COVID-19 rates for people aged 1-50 years old were derived from publicly-available data. The primary outcome was comparison of vaccination availability against young OHCA rates, unascertained causes of arrest or myocarditis. The secondary outcome was causes of young sudden death within thirty days of COVID-19 vaccination, with reference to age-matched normative data. Results 2,242 people experienced OHCA during the study period (unascertained causes = 223, myocarditis = 13). No variation was seen in monthly rates of OHCA (p=0.7481), rates of myocarditis (p=0.7378) or unascertained cause of arrest (p=0.2323) according to vaccine availability. 38 people experienced sudden death within thirty days of vaccination and were referred for forensic assessment (vaccine types: BNT162b2=22, ChAdOx1 nCoV-19= 9, mRNA-1273=2, vaccination type not documented =5). No difference was seen in underlying causes of the sudden death compared to previously-published age-matched data (p=0.235). Conclusion A state-wide analysis of OHCA in the young did not show any increase in rates of overall OHCA, myocarditis causing OHCA or unascertained OHCA during the COVID pandemic or following the introduction of COVID-19 vaccination. Causes of death in young people experiencing fatal OHCA within 30 days of their COVID-19 vaccination were consistent with pre-pandemic causative profiles.