TAMPA, Fla. — There have been some reports stating a few young people developed myocarditis after receiving their vaccinations. USF Professor Dr. Thomas Unnasch says those reports aren't something to worry about.
“I think what they are doing is they are acting out of an abundance of caution," he said.
Myocarditis is an inflammation of the heart muscle.
The Centers for Disease Control says they are looking into the cases and letting the healthcare community know about the “potential adverse event.”
The CDC did not say how many people had been affected.
“So far they’ve managed to give 4.6 million doses give or take to people in the age cohort of 12-18. And they are talking about maybe having a handful of these myocarditis cases that are out there. A handful to me sounds small," said Unnasch.
The CDC says the cases typically happened within four days after getting the second dose and have affected teens and young adults, more often males.
They did not specify if it was Moderna or Pfizer.
Dr. Unnasch says it's hard to even know if the myocarditis cases were even caused by the vaccination.
“It’s a pretty common condition among young people anyway. So the question is, is it any more common among the vaccine people than the people who haven’t been vaccinated. And that’s kind of what they are drilling down on now," he said.
Dr. Unnasch says he does worry that those already hesitant about getting vaccinated will overreact to reports like this one.
He says any serious side effects would have been revealed long ago with millions of young people already vaccinated.
Only 1 in 5.2 million vaccinated people were found to have myocarditis. You are much more likely to be struck by lightning.