A Facebook post advises those who play sports not to get vaccinated. At stake is the death of an athlete during a triathlon event in Lisbon in early May. Sharing a screenshot of a news story about the man’s death, the author of the post advised: “If you play sports, don’t get vaccinated.”

The point is that, despite the various claims about the alleged risks of vaccines against Covid-19, so far no association was found between vaccination and serious adverse reactions in athletes and people who practice sports regularly. Pedro Madureira, an immunologist at the Abel Salazar Institute of Biomedical Sciences (ICBAS) and co-founder of Immunethep, confirmed to the Observer that “there are no contraindications for vaccines for those who do sports.”

This is also the case with the Covid-19 vaccine, which some people have pointed to as the culprit in the recent death of athletes. “It is already more than proven that the vaccine reduces infections by SARS-CoV-2, as well as the severity of the disease,” explains Pedro Madureira: “And the effects of Covid-19 on athletes, yes, can be harmful.”

An example of this is the last Olympic Games, recalls the immunologist: “Occurring in a scenario where probably all the athletes were vaccinated and no known large-scale adverse reaction associated with the vaccine“. The vast majority of athletes have received the Covid-19 vaccine, but so have others in the past. But there was no record of health problems associated with these drugs.

And also there is no suspicion that the death of the triathlete in a competition in Lisbon was motivated by vaccination. There was not even official information, from the medical team that followed the case or from sources close to the victim, that pointed in that direction.

Paulo Passos Leite, general director of Challenge Lisboa, who organized the event, explained to the Observer that, to the best of his knowledge, The athlete’s death was “a fatality, a cardiac arrest as it can happen to any of us.” And that had nothing to do with vaccines: “I’m not aware of that.”

The athlete’s vaccination status does not have to be discriminated for his registration to be validated by the organization —the law does not even require it— but Paulo Passos Leite, himself an athlete, guarantees that the victim “was an athlete who was being accompanied and group training, with training plans carried out by professionals and a complete follow-up in terms of nutrition and preparation”.

Since the Covid-19 vaccine began to be distributed, the death of athletes has been associated with allegedly fatal health problems caused by the same drug. But no evidence scientific evidence that deaths among vaccinated athletes are more frequent than deaths among unvaccinated athletes; nor that there are more deaths of athletes now than before vaccination.

For example, a study in the Journal of the American Heart Association whose results have already been confirmed by the scientific community estimated in July 2021 that the risk of developing myocarditis due to mRNA vaccines (such as Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine and Pfizer) was one. in 20,000. But The risk of a young athlete developing heart problems from having Covid-19 is one in 200.

In an interview with The New York Times, Jonathan A. Drezner, editor-in-chief of the British Journal of Sports Medicine, a partner in authority at a US national center that investigates catastrophic sports injuries, said the lists linking the deaths of certain athletes with vaccinations are “disinformation”. “Most cases are due to other established causes of sudden cardiac arrest in athletes.and some cases occurred even before the start of the pandemic,” he clarified.

A report from the American College for Sports Medicine says that, “with billions of Covid-19 vaccines administered worldwide, the vaccines have been shown to be safe and effective.” Although some side effects may occur, most are short-lived, especially compared to the actual disease or subsequent isolation requirements if an athlete and/or teammate(s) become infected,” the document continues.

conclusion

It is false to suggest that those who play sports are at greater risk of being vaccinated than not being vaccinated. — against Covid-19, which has come under increased scrutiny in recent years, and against any disease. There is no contraindication for vaccination in athletes, since it is safer than the disease they may develop. And there is no evidence that athletes are experiencing fatal adverse reactions to any vaccine.

Also there is no suspicion that the triathlete’s death in a competition in Lisbon was precipitated by taking a vaccine. Sources close to the case assure that the victim lost his life due to a cardiorespiratory arrest that had nothing to do with the vaccination. No official information, neither from the family nor from the medical team that accompanied him, points in that direction.

Thus, according to the Observer classification, this content is: