Myocarditis post mRNA COVID-19 vaccine- To fear or not to fear?

We consider effective mass vaccination as the sole way to curb the COVID-19 pandemic. Most side effects of the vaccine are minor and self-limiting. However, a more concerning side effect, myocarditis, is also emerging. Julia et al. reported 1226 cases of post-vaccine myocarditis in which males aged 16 years or above were most vulnerable and developed symptoms following the second dose of the mRNA vaccine. Amid the prevailing myths, reports about such side effects add to the public’s fear of vaccination. Risk of myocarditis with COVID-19 infection is much greater than with the vaccine. One should also emphasise that the overall vaccine effectiveness is 94.1% and thus, the larger population can safely ignore this side effect. Thus, we believe it is important to highlight that the side effect is rare and manageable without any significant long-term damage. However, to devise population-specific guidelines, we recommend that the incidence of post-vaccine myocarditis is actively reported and published in our country, and measures taken accordingly