30 THE QUEENS COURIER • FEBRUARY 4, 2021 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
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Everything heart and stroke patients
should know about COVID-19 vaccines
Experts have a simple answer for heart
and stroke patients questioning whether
they should get a COVID-19 vaccination.
Th at answer: yes.
“People with all kinds of cardiovascular
risk factors and disease should defi -
nitely get vaccinated to protect themselves
and their families from COVID-19,” said
Dr. Mitchell Elkind, a professor of neurology
and epidemiology at NewYork-
Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia
University Irving Medical Center in New
York City.
Th e Food and Drug Administrationapproved
vaccines pose no special problems
for such patients, said Elkind, who
also is president of the American Heart
Association. Th e AHA issued a statement
Friday encouraging people with cardiovascular
risk factors, heart disease or a
history of heart attack or stroke to get
vaccinated “as soon as possible.” Getting
vaccinated is especially important for
them, Elkind said, because people with
such underlying conditions have a higher
chance of developing complications
from COVID-19, the disease caused by
the coronavirus.
“People with heart disease or stroke – or
for that matter, risk factors for heart disease
and stroke – are at much greater risk
from the virus than they are from the vaccine,”
he said.
Th e vaccines have side eff ects, but
Elkind called the risk of a complication
exceedingly small. “Th e most likely thing
that will occur is a sore arm,” he said. “I
can tell you, I got the vaccine, the fi rst
dose of the Moderna vaccine. And my
arm hurt for a few days, like somebody
had punched me there. But I was still able
to use my arm and lift it, and that was it.”
People shouldn’t be surprised if they
hear about other temporary side eff ects,
said Orly Vardeny, associate professor
of medicine at the Minneapolis VA
Health Care System and University of
Minnesota. Th e FDA’s approval of the
Pfi zer-BioNTech vaccine, for example,
listed pain at the injection site, tiredness,
headache, muscle pain, chills, joint pain
and fever as common reactions.
Vardeny, who has done extensive
research on fl u vaccines, said such reactions
are a sign the body is mounting
an immune response, “and that’s a good
thing. Th at’s what we want to happen in
order for our bodies to make antibodies
that will prevent us from getting sick if we
encounter the virus again.”
Th e vaccines currently approved for
use in the U.S. do not have a live virus,
so that reduces concerns for heart disease
patients or others with weakened immune
systems, Vardeny said.
Th e vaccines also can be safely administered
to people on blood-thinning medications,
Elkind said. “Th e needle is small.
To avoid bruising, people on blood thinners
should press fi rmly for a minute or
so, just like aft er getting blood drawn.”
In rare cases, the COVID-19 vaccine
can cause a severe allergic reaction,
which is why people should be monitored
aft er the injection. And as the vaccine is
administered to millions of people, other
rare issues might be reported, Vardeny
said. “I think we’ll learn a lot more about
the tolerability and potential reactions as
the vaccine gets rolled out.”
Some questions can’t be answered yet.
Trials in children, for example, are
ongoing, which is why the vaccines have
not been approved for them. And data
is limited on adults who have congenital
heart conditions.
It may take time before everyone has
access to a COVID-19 vaccine. But people
can protect themselves from infl uenza
now by getting a fl u shot, Elkind
and Vardeny emphasized. Th e fl u vaccine
doesn’t protect against COVID-19,
but it does reduce the chance of developing
symptoms that might be confused
with it and hinder a diagnosis. A fl u shot
also off ers protection against heart-related
complications of the fl u.
But timing matters. Interim guidance
from the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention’s panel on immunization practices
says a fl u vaccine shouldn’t be given
at the same time as one for COVID-19.
“Th ere should be a 14-day separation,”
Vardeny said.
Misinformation abounds about vaccines,
which makes it essential for people
to seek trustworthy sources for facts.
Th e best authority will be a primary care
provider, cardiologist, pharmacist or
other medical professional, Vardeny said.
“Th ey’re going to have accurate and upto
date information, and they’re going
to be able to steer you in the direction of
information that’s truthful.”
Th e CDC also regularly updates its
information on vaccines.
Elkind said he’s oft en asked whether the
COVID-19 vaccines are safe, given how
quickly they were developed. It’s a particular
concern in the Black community, he
said, where there’s a “tragic and inappropriate”
history with medical experiments.
Th e COVID-19 vaccines might have
arrived within a year of the pandemic’s
start, he said, but research into the underlying
technology had been going on for
more than a decade. So people should see
it as a positive that a vaccine arrived with
such speed.
“And again, (many) people have been
vaccinated already, with no evidence of
any signifi cant unexpected side eff ects so
far,” Elkind said. “I think that’s good news
for all of us.”
— Courtesy of American
Heart Association
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