Updated COVID-19 vaccines are continuing to demonstrate significant protection against cardiovascular disease, especially for individuals over age 75 and those with underlying medical conditions, a new study has found. The research builds upon prior evidence indicating that COVID-19 vaccines can lower the risk of heart-related complications associated with the virus.
Study Details and Findings
The study, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, analyzed electronic medical records from over 1 million patients within a US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health system. Researchers focused on the 2024–2025 COVID-19 vaccine, assessing its effectiveness in preventing major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE). MACE is defined in the study as encompassing cardiovascular death, heart attack, stroke, and hospitalization due to heart failure.
The data included 1,039,659 patients from the VA’s St. Louis Health Care System who received a seasonal flu shot between September 3, 2024, and December 31, 2024. A portion of these patients, 349,085, also received an updated COVID-19 vaccine concurrently with their flu shot. The remaining 690,574 patients, who received only the flu shot, served as the control group.
Cardiovascular Benefit Demonstrated
After an eight-month follow-up period, researchers compared the incidence of MACE events between the two groups, taking into account documented COVID-19 cases. The findings indicated that the COVID-19 shots demonstrated an overall vaccine effectiveness of 38 percent against MACE events. In absolute terms, the study estimated that the updated vaccines reduced the rate of COVID-19-associated MACE from approximately 5 events per 10,000 individuals to 3 events per 10,000.
The study also highlighted that the protective benefits were most pronounced in specific subgroups. Older adults, aged 75 and above, and individuals with pre-existing health conditions experienced the strongest protection against these cardiovascular events.
Steve Lopez is the Editorial Page Editor for News Raise. He covers Health. He has won more than a dozen national journalism awards for his reporting and column writing at seven newspapers and four news magazines.
