The Claim:
The recent death of Óscar Cabrera Adames, a basketball player, has some speculating that the COVID vaccine he received more than a year earlier caused myocarditis which led to the heart attack that killed him.
The Facts:
Óscar Cabrera Adames collapsed in 2021 during a basketball game, after which he took to Twitter and claimed a subsequent diagnosis of myocarditis caused by COVID vaccination.
The COVID vaccine can indeed cause myocarditis, but we don’t know what caused his collapse, what caused Cabrera Adames’ case of myocarditis, or if he even had myocarditis. We also don’t know if he had previous COVID infections. Did he have a previous condition that could lead to myocarditis and sudden cardiac death? We don’t know.
He died in June 2023, more than 18 months after the initial collapse, reportedly during a stress test. The cause of death hasn’t yet been determined, myocarditis or otherwise.
Myocarditis after COVID vaccine tends to resolve within three months, and according to the Cleveland Clinic, a regular stress test isn’t usually given to someone with myocarditis. So while this event was tragic, we need to wait for an autopsy to know more.
It is also important to note that while the COVID vaccine can cause myocarditis, it is quite rare, and the risk of developing myocarditis after vaccination is much less than the risk of developing myocarditis after COVID infection.
Disclaimer: Science is always evolving and our understanding of these topics may have evolved too since this was originally posted. Be sure to check out our most recent posts and browse the latest Just the Facts Topics for the latest.
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