Covid vaccine is not responsible for heart attacks: Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya
New Delhi, March 2
Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has done a detailed study which shows that Covid vaccine is not responsible for heart attacks, and an individual’s lifestyle and factors such as binge drinking could be among underlying causes.
Speaking at ‘ANI Dialogues – Navigating India’s health sector’ here on Saturday, the Union Health Minister said that the Modi government is working with a holistic approach so that people get affordable health care.
He talked of India’s efforts to supply Covid vaccines to around 150 countries in the world and said that it has generated enormous goodwill in those countries.
Answering a query, Mandaviya said there had been attempts to create misconceptions about Covid vaccines.
“If someone has a stroke today, some people think it is because of the Covid vaccine. ICMR has done a detailed study on this. Covid vaccine is not responsible for heart attacks. There are multiple reasons for heart attacks, like our lifestyle, tobacco and excess liquor consumption… Sometimes, misinformation goes among the people and a perception is formed for some time. But whatever decision we make, it should be data-based and scientific research-based,” the minister said.
According to a peer-reviewed ICMR study that came out in November last year, vaccines administered for Covid did not increase the risk of sudden death among young adults in India but it was the post-Covid hospitalisation, family history of sudden death, and certain lifestyle behaviours that are likely the underlying causes.
The study by ICMR was conducted through the participation of 47 tertiary care hospitals across India. Cases were apparently healthy individuals aged 18 to 45 years without any known co-morbidity, who suddenly died of unexplained causes between October 2021 and March 2023.
Interviews were recorded to collect data on Covid vaccination, infection and post-Covid conditions, family history of sudden death, smoking, recreational drug use, alcohol frequency and binge drinking and vigorous-intensity physical activity two days before death.
“Lifestyle factors such as current smoking status, alcohol use frequency, recent binge drinking, recreational drug/substance use and vigorous-intensity activity were positively associated with unexplained sudden death. As compared to never users, the more the frequency of alcohol use, the higher was the odds for unexplained sudden death,” the study said.
The study was done in view of some anecdotal reports of sudden unexplained deaths in India’s, apparently healthy young adults during the once-in-a-century pandemic.
Mandaviya said at ‘ANI Dialogues’ that the government took decisions concerning vaccination based on advice of experts and scientific evidence.
“When the vaccine was given, an attempt was made at that time to create a misperception that this vaccine is not good. Then political questions were raised that if it (vaccine) was good then why PM Modi is not taking it?…PM Modi falls under the category of 60 years without comorbidities and he took the vaccine in the third category,” he said.
The Union Health Minister talked of the speed at which Covid vaccine was rolled out in India due to determination of the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He said PM Modi told scientists that resources will not be a constraint in developing the vaccine.
He said PM Modi conveyed that India should also send vaccines to other countries after meeting its needs.
Mandaviya also referred to his meeting with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates who lauded India’s Covid management and vaccination.
