The CDC reported that eight children aged 5-11 developed myocarditis after getting second doses of their COVID-19 vaccination. The children received shots of the Pfizer and BioNTech coronavirus vaccines in cases still being investigated by the federal health agency. They got myocarditis, a heart inflammation that can be treated if detected in time.
Previous to this time, the CDC stated that cases of myocarditis for boys aged 16-17 could be over 69 cases per million-second doses of vaccine shots, and about 40 cases per million-second doses in boys between the age of 12-15 years.
Posting their finding in the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System which was presented to its expert think-thank, the CDC said more than 7 million doses of the vaccines have been administered to children aged 5-11 by the time the data was published. To this end, 5.1 million children had had their first doses and 2 million kids got their second doses.
The CDC failed to establish if the COVID-19 vaccines caused the heart inflammation observed in the eight kids, and the agency also failed to reveal the number of myocarditis infections in children aged 5-11 who were yet to be vaccinated. The agency said it is still monitoring the situation and will update its advice as needed.
Health experts define myocarditis as the inflammation of the muscles of the heart, while pericarditis is the inflammation of the membranes surrounding the heart.