Vaccination against the coronavirus significantly reduces the risk of heart failure and potentially dangerous blood clots associated with the infection for up to a year, according to a large study.

Researchers analyzed the health records of more than 20 million people in the UK, Spain and Estonia and found consistent evidence that the jab prevents serious cardiovascular complications from the disease.

COVID-19 vaccines, including those from Oxford-AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Moderna, have proven highly effective at preventing severe disease in the pandemic, but medicines regulators have warned that others, such as the flu shot, have It has also recorded increases in some rare heart and clotting disorders, similar to those seen with vaccines. .

The latest study aims to investigate the overall impact of COVID-19 vaccination, as infection with the virus itself is known to significantly increase the risk of heart failure and a range of other serious cardiovascular diseases. It is an object.

“What we show in this very large study is that vaccinated people have a significantly reduced risk of these complications after contracting COVID-19,” Oxford said Daniel Prieto Alhambra, professor of pharmacoepidemiology and instrumental epidemiology at the university. Senior author of this study.

Writing in the journal Heart, researchers explain how the adenovirus-based coronavirus vaccines made by Oxford-AstraZeneca and Janssen, and the mRNA-based vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna, were initially It explains which ones were most protective against coronavirus-related heart failure and blood clots. 1 month after viral infection.

During that period, the risk of heart failure decreased by 55%, and the risk of blood clots in veins and arteries decreased by 78% and 47%, respectively, compared to rates in unvaccinated people.

While the protective effects of vaccines wear off over time, people vaccinated against the coronavirus remain at lower risk of coronavirus-related heart failure and blood clots than unvaccinated people for up to a year. Researchers discovered that.

Three to six months after infection, the risk of heart failure in vaccinated people was 39% lower than in unvaccinated people, and the risk of blood clots in veins and arteries was 47% and 28% lower, respectively. . Those who were vaccinated between six and 12 months after infection had a 48%, 50%, and 38% lower risk of the same complications, respectively.

The protective effect comes from the vaccine reducing the severity of the disease when people get a breakthrough infection, meaning the virus takes hold despite being vaccinated.

“The overall message is that if you are vaccinated, your risk of developing cardiovascular disease and thromboembolic complications after infection with COVID-19 is significantly reduced,” Professor Prieto Alhambra said. Stated. “This is very reassuring, especially for people who are at high risk or who are afraid of cardiovascular complications or blood clots.”