CDC officials announced Thursday (June 10) an “emergency meeting” would be held next week following reports of heart inflammation for some who received doses of the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. The meeting is scheduled for Friday (June 18) and will review the rare, but higher-than-expected rates of heart inflammation in people under the age of 30 that left 18 hospitalized, including three in the intensive care unit.
Officials have noted that the amount of people who’ve experienced heart inflammation after their vaccine dose is very small compared to the almost 130 million Americans who received both doses of the vaccine.
“It’s a bit of an apples-to-oranges comparison because, again, these are preliminary reports. Not all these will turn out to be true myocarditis or pericarditis reports,” Dr. Tom Shimabukuro, a CDC vaccine safety official told CBS News.
The agency has identified at least 226 reports of heart inflammation, noting that most of the people recovered, though 41 reported continued symptoms. Most of the people with the heart inflammation, the CDC found, were teenage males who reported symptoms after their second vaccine dose.
According to the report, officials are asking primary care providers to “ask about prior COVID-19 vaccination” if patients come in with heart inflammation symptoms.
The meeting and report comes following President Joe Biden’s push to get 70% of Americans vaccinated by July 4.
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