April 5, 2022: According to a large study published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, people infected with Covid-19 face a higher risk of myocarditis and different inflammatory heart conditions than those vaccinated against the disease.

The CDC found that myocarditis, pericarditis, and the multisystem inflammatory syndrome were higher after Covid infection than after Pfizer or Moderna vaccination in males and females ages five and older. However, according to the CDC, these cardiac conditions are rare after infection and vaccination alike.

Myocarditis is an inflammation of the heart muscle, and pericarditis is an inflammation of the heart lining on the outer part. Multisystem inflammation is associated with Covid infection that affects many organ systems.

Pfizer and Moderna’s vaccines have been associated with an elevated risk of myocarditis and pericarditis after the second dose, particularly in boys ages 12- to 17-years-old. According to the CDC, even in this group, the risk of myocarditis and pericarditis was higher after Covid infection than after vaccination.

Among teenage boys, myocarditis or pericarditis after infection was nearly 50 cases per 100,000 people, compared to at least 22 cases for each 100,000 after the second vaccine dose. The overall risk of heart conditions after Covid infection was surged 5.6 times higher compared to the double vaccine dose. The trouble was up to 69 times higher after the disorder than the first shot.

The CDC examined the electronic health records of more than 15 million people ages five and older across 40 healthcare systems from Jan. 2021 through Jan. 2022. Scientists studied the risk of catching a cardiac condition after a Covid infection compared to both doses of Pfizer and Moderna’s vaccines. The study has not included booster doses in the comparison.

Overall, the risk of a heart issue after Covid infection was 2 to 115 times higher than vaccination, depending on age, gender, and the dose administered.

In February, the CDC said males aged 12- to 39-years-old should consider waiting eight weeks between the first and second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines to decrease the risk of myocarditis. Canadian public health authorities had found that the rate of myocarditis after Pfizer or Moderna vaccination was increased when the time between the first and second dose was less than 30 days.