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Soccer Star's Collapse Was Unrelated to COVID-19 Vaccine - FactCheck.org
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Soccer Star's Collapse Was Unrelated to COVID-19 Vaccine
By Sean Carlin
This article is available in both English and Español English Español
SciCheck Digest
Danish soccer star Christian Eriksen is recovering well after he suffered cardiac arrest and collapsed during a match on June 12. But after the incident, social media posts falsely claimed he had recently been vaccinated for COVID-19 and suggested that led to his collapse. Team officials said he has not been vaccinated.
How do we know vaccines are safe?
No vaccine or medical product is 100% safe, but the safety of vaccines is ensured via rigorous testing in clinical trials prior to authorization or approval, followed by continued safety monitoring once the vaccine is rolled out to the public to detect potential rare side effects. In addition, the Food and Drug Administration inspects vaccine production facilities and reviews manufacturing protocols to make sure vaccine doses are of high-quality and free of contaminants.
One key vaccine safety surveillance program is the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, or VAERS, which is an early warning system run by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and FDA. As its website explains, VAERS "is not designed to detect if a vaccine caused an adverse event, but it can identify unusual or unexpected patterns of reporting that might indicate possible safety problems requiring a closer look."
Anyone can submit a report to VAERS for any health problem that occurs after an immunization. There is no screening or vetting of the report and no attempt to determine if the vaccine was responsible for the problem. The information is still valuable because it's a way of being quickly alerted to a potential safety issue with a vaccine, which can then be followed-up by government scientists.
Another monitoring system is the CDC's Vaccine Safety Datalink, which uses electronic health data from nine health care organizations in the U.S. to identify adverse events related to vaccination in near real time.
In the case of the COVID-19 vaccines, randomized controlled trials involving tens of thousands of people, which were reviewed by multiple groups of experts, revealed no serious safety issues and showed that the benefits outweigh the risks.
The CDC and FDA vaccine safety monitoring systems, which were expanded for the COVID-19 vaccines and also include a new smartphone-based reporting tool called v-safe, have subsequently identified only a few, very rare adverse events.
For more, see "How safe are the vaccines?"
Link to this
How can I report a potential safety issue?
The CDC and FDA have multiple surveillance systems. People are encouraged to submit information to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, which predates this pandemic. Experts comb through the submissions to identify and follow-up on adverse reactions that might be due to the vaccine.
The CDC also debuted a smartphone-based tool called v-safe for COVID-19 vaccines. If you register for the program, you will be asked via text message how you are feeling every day for a week after vaccination and less frequently after that. If your answers indicate a potential problem, someone will contact you for more information.
Danish soccer player Christian Eriksen was waiting to receive a throw-in during the first half of his team's opening Euro 2020 match on June 12 in Copenhagen when he suddenly collapsed, suffering cardiac arrest. He received medical treatment on the field and was awake when he left. He since has undergone an operation and has been released.
But soon after he collapsed during the match, erroneous speculation emerged on social media appearing to link a COVID-19 vaccination to the incident. A since-deleted tweet falsely claimed Eriksen received the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine on May 31.
"Inter Milan Chief Medic and Cardiologist confirmed that he received the Pfizer vaccine 12 days ago," read one tweet attributing the quote to Radio Sportiva. The claim has been reposted on Instagram and Facebook.
But Inter Milan's director, Giuseppe Marotta, denied the claims and said Eriksen, who also plays for the Italian club, had no previous signs of health issues.
"He didn't have COVID and wasn't vaccinated either," Marotta reportedly told Rai Sport.
Radio Sportiva also disputed the social media claims, saying on Twitter that the radio station never interviewed any Inter Milan officials about Eriksen's condition.
Denmark's match against Finland was nearing the half when Eriksen fell to the ground. The match was suspended after a lengthy delay as medical staff performed CPR and used a defibrillator to resuscitate him. He was taken to a hospital and was later reported to be in stable condition.
The Danish Football Union said in a tweet on June 17 that Eriksen would receive an implantable cardioverter defibrillator — a heart starter. The device is necessary after a "cardiac attack due to rhythm disturbances," according to the sports organization.
Eriksen was discharged from the hospital on June 18 after a "successful operation," the sports organization told CNN.
Christian Eriksen looks on during the UEFA EURO 2020 Group B match between Denmark and Finland at Parken Stadium on June 12. Photo by Lars Ronbog/FrontZoneSport via Getty Images.
The speculation surrounding Eriksen's vaccination status came as health officials investigate elevated cases of heart inflammation — particularly in young men — following their second dose of an mRNA vaccine. More than 300 cases of myocarditis and pericarditis following vaccination have been reported in teens and young adults, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"I think this is probably a real phenomenon," Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, said in a hospital video. "But it is rare, occurring in about one in 50,000 recipients."
Offit said the symptoms of myocarditis are normally short-lived and can involve chest pain and occasionally shortness of breath. The decision to vaccinate is still a safer choice, he said.
Dr. E Kevin Hall, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the Yale School of Medicine, said the patients his institution has seen with suspected post-vaccination myocarditis have done well and have been discharged.
"The cases of possible myocarditis as a result of the COVID vaccines appears to be very rare," Hall told us in an email. "We believe the risks of COVID far outweigh the risks of the possible vaccine side effect."
The CDC recommends COVID-19 vaccines for any person over age 12. An advisory committee to the agency is expected to review the cases of myocarditis at a meeting this month.
Editor's note: SciCheck's COVID-19/Vaccination Project is made possible by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The foundation has no control over our editorial decisions, and the views expressed in our articles do not necessarily reflect the views of the foundation. The goal of the project is to increase exposure to accurate information about COVID-19 and vaccines, while decreasing the impact of misinformation.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Myocarditis and Pericarditis Following mRNA COVID-19 Vaccination." Updated 27 May 2021.
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. "What Should I Know About COVID-19 Vaccine and Myocarditis in Teens?" 14 Jun 2021.
Church, Ben. "Christian Eriksen discharged from hospital after 'successful operation.'" CNN. 18 Jun 2021.
Myocarditis and Pericarditis Following mRNA COVID-19 Vaccination
"Denmark's Christian Eriksen collapsed on the field. He is responsive and awake." New York Times. 12 Jun 2021.
Edwards, Erika. "Evidence grows stronger for Covid vaccine link to heart issue, CDC says." NBC News. 10 Jun 2021.
Hall, E Kevin. Assistant professor of pediatrics, Yale School of Medicine. Email to FactCheck.org. 18 Jun 2021.
"Inter director says Eriksen did not have COVID and was not vaccinated." Reuters. 13 Jun 2021.
Klosok, Aleks. "Christian Eriksen thanks well-wishers, says he's feeling 'fine' in first social media post since cardiac arrest." CNN. 15 Jun 2021.
"Press Briefing by White House COVID-19 Team and Public Health Officials." Whitehouse.gov. 17 Jun 2021.
Silberner, Joanne. "Pfizer's COVID Vaccine In Teens And Myocarditis: What You Need To Know." NPR. 17 Jun 2021.
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A: An unvaccinated person who is infected with COVID-19 poses a much greater risk to others who are also unvaccinated. But vaccines are not 100% effective, so there is a chance that an unvaccinated person could infect a vaccinated person — particularly the vulnerable, such as elderly and immunocompromised individuals.
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