Video claims that half of vaccine-related myocarditis cases have “permanent heart damage”

The widespread circulation of the misleading claim elevates its risk. Messaging may emphasize that the very small study found no signs of “permanent heart damage” or impaired heart function. All patients had normal EKGs, and two had a single heart health indicator that was borderline (i.e., just outside the optimal range). What the video labeled as permanent heart damage, the researchers describe as “mild residual” scarring of heart tissue in half of the patients tested. However, this finding does not represent half of the patients in the study because only those who initially had abnormal heart imaging results were tested. Continuing to explain that myocarditis after COVID-19 vaccination is extremely rare and typically mild and that a COVID-19 infection carries a higher risk of heart complication than COVID-19 vaccination is recommended. 

Fact Checking Source(s): Yale Medicine, CHOP