Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah's claim linking COVID-19 vaccines to a spike in heart attack deaths in Hassan district has caused a big controversy. Medical professionals, institutes, and doctors have denied the claims and underlined how the vaccines played a crucial role in reducing the mortality rate during the pandemic.

Addressing a press conference, the AIIMS Delhi doctors on Thursday asserted that no association had been found between COVID-19 vaccines and heart attacks. Dr Karan Madan, Associate Professor, Department of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, AIIMS Delhi, said, "COVID vaccines were effective vaccines and they played a crucial role in reducing the mortality. During the pandemic, vaccines are the only possible measure to save lives. Vaccines were used on a large number of people, and they provided a lot of benefits in preventing excess mortality."

He added, "The benefits provided by the vaccines are immense. A study was done on sudden cardiac deaths to review the vaccines used so far, but no clear association was found with sudden cardiac deaths."

Professor at Centre for Community Medicine, Dr Sanjay Rai, also underscored the efficacy of the vaccines. "The WHO has approved around 12 vaccines, and the majority of these vaccines are based on different technologies. If you see Covaxin, it's an old technology. Covishield uses a vector that is an adenovirus. The other vaccine, Sputnik, almost the same principle... More than 13 billion doses have already been administered all over the world. There are countries like, the US, they have just completed the fourth dose. The WHO is also recommending that everybody six months and above must get vaccine with the newer variant."

Former Director of AIIMS Delhi, Dr. Randeep Guleria, also dismissed reports linking the deaths of young people getting sudden cardiac arrests to vaccination. "There have been studies to look into this cause. If you look at studies from ICMR and AIIMS, they have clearly shown that these young deaths are not related to COVID-19 vaccines. COVID-19 vaccines do have some side effects, all vaccines/drugs have some side effects, but the link between COVID-19 vaccination and heart attacks is not there. None of the studies have shown that," he said.

Also Read: Covishield Is Safe: Serum Institute of India, After Recent Spate of Heart Attacks in Karnataka

In the wake of recent cases of deaths due to heart attacks in Hassan, Karnataka, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said that "hasty approval and distribution" of the Covid vaccine to the public could also be a reason for these deaths. The chief minister said that more than twenty people have died due to heart attacks in the past month alone in just one district of Hassan, and urged everyone to visit the nearest health center immediately for a check-up if they have symptoms such as chest pain or difficulty breathing, and not to ignore these signs.