Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of a possible link between covid-19 vaccination and myocarditis in males under 40.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has reviewed United Kingdom and international reports of suspected myocarditis and pericarditis following vaccination against COVID-19. There has been higher reporting of these suspected events with mRNA vaccines Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna and occurring more frequently in males. In the UK the evidence shows that for the Pfizer vaccine, there is similar frequency of reporting after the first and second dose, with suspected events typically occurring within a short time after vaccination.

These reports have also been analysed by the Government’s independent advisory body, the Commission for Human Medicines and its COVID-19 Vaccines Benefit Risk Expert Working Group. Following their advice, the product information for the Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines was updated to include these reports and advise healthcare professionals and patients to be aware of symptoms of myocarditis and pericarditis.