Veterans Report Low Rates of Adverse Events With mRNA Vaccines

THURSDAY, June 16, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Adverse vents associated with COVID-19 mRNA vaccines are low but are slightly higher at 42 days for those receiving BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech) versus mRNA-1273 (Moderna), according to a study published online June 13 in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Barbra A. Dickerman, Ph.D., from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, and colleagues compared the risk for adverse events between the BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273 vaccines. The analysis included 433,672 individuals (93 percent male; 20 percent Black) identified through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs national health care databases who received a first dose of the BNT162b2 or mRNA-1273 vaccines between Jan. 4 and Sept. 20, 2021.

The researchers found that compared with the mRNA-1273 group, the BNT162b2 group had an excess per 10,000 persons of 10.9 events of ischemic stroke, 14.8 events of myocardial infarction, 11.3 events of other thromboembolic events, and 17.1 events of kidney injury. When examining subgroups by age (younger than 40 years, 40 to 69 years, and 70 years or older) and race (Black, White), estimates were largely similar, but there were higher magnitudes of risk differences for ischemic stroke among older persons and White persons, kidney injury among older persons, and other thromboembolic events among Black persons.

"The 38-week risks of adverse events were low in both vaccine groups, although risks were lower for recipients of the mRNA-1273 vaccine than for recipients of the BNT162b2 vaccine," the authors write.

One author disclosed financial ties to Moderna Therapeutics.

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