A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report revealed Thursday that an unexpectedly high number of young adults are experiencing heart inflammation after receiving their second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
According to the preliminary study, there have been 275 confirmed cases of myocarditis or pericarditis in people ages 16 to 24 who have received two doses of Pfizer’s or Moderna’s vaccine, CNBC reported.
The study was presented to an advisory panel of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Scientists initially expected there to be between 10 and 102 cases of the conditions, which involve the heart muscle or lining becoming inflamed.
Among people age 30 and younger, there have been 475 reported cases.
“We clearly have an imbalance there,” Dr. Tom Shimabukuro said at the FDA meeting to discuss the use of COVID-19 vaccines in children as young as 6 months old.
Most patients have fully recovered. Fifteen were still hospitalized as of May 31, including three in intensive care.
The study also found that men are more likely than women to contract the conditions, and most cases arise two to three days after inoculation.
The report comes weeks after the FDA authorized the Pfizer vaccine for children ages 12 to 15.
A CDC work group that measures weekly vaccine safety data found in May that reports of myocarditis occurred “predominantly in adolescents and young adults.”
The group also reported that cases develop “more often following dose 2 than dose 1.”
The report did not reveal the rate at which adults over 30 are contracting the condition.
Health experts say discovering side effects once a vaccine is administered to the public is common and that the risk of contracting COVID-19 exceeds that of vaccine-induced myocarditis, CNBC reported.
According to Our World in Data, almost 305 million doses of the vaccine have been administered in the U.S., resulting in the full inoculation of 141 million Americans, or 43 percent of the population.
Over 172 million Americans — approximately 51 percent of the population — have received at least one dose of the vaccine.
Most states have lifted their mask mandates and pandemic restrictions as case and death rates plummet.
According to The New York Times, 41 states are now fully reopened, with most of the rest planning to reopen by the Fourth of July.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
