Those who want to predict the future are mostly looking to Israel these days.
As far as vaccinations against Covid-19 are concerned, the small Mediterranean country with almost nine million inhabitants is a pioneer and test laboratory, at least for the mRNA vaccine "Comirnaty" from BioNTech, with which more than half of the population has already been vaccinated .
Since January, teenagers over the age of 16 have also been given the injection, and recently also children between the ages of 12 and 15.
A connection between the mRNA vaccination and myocarditis is becoming apparent - especially in boys.
Coincidence or a side effect of the vaccine?
There are also suspected cases in Germany.
How dangerous are these heart conditions?
And what does that mean for children in this country who have been allowed to make vaccination appointments since this week?
Johanna Kuroczik
Editor in the "Science" section of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung.
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In Israel, three teams of experts on behalf of the local Ministry of Health have analyzed the suspected cases that have been reported since last December. At the beginning of June they announced that so far in 148 people heart muscle inflammation had been reported in close time to the vaccination, of which more than 80 percent occurred after the second injection. A striking number of young men between the ages of 16 and 19 were affected, and many had to be treated in hospital for up to four days. In almost all of them the inflammation was mild and only temporary. Statistically, one in 3,000 to 6,000 young men up to the age of 24 would be affected - and thus more than would be expected in the general population. The data suggest that there is a causal link between vaccination and myocarditis,explained the Israeli investigator Dror Mevorach in the journal "Science". He is convinced that there is a connection.
Suspected cases are being investigated in Europe
People are more cautious in Europe - although relatively few young men were vaccinated here and even fewer teenagers.
The European Medicines Agency's safety committee is currently analyzing the reported cases.
The data are so far insufficient, so that the conclusion could not be drawn that the vaccination was responsible for the heart muscle inflammation, says a spokeswoman when asked by the "FAS".
Suspected side effects of vaccinations are reported to the Paul Ehrlich Institute in Germany.
The latest safety report lists 49 patients who were reported to have had myocarditis related to the BioNTech vaccination by May 31st.
The heart is a muscle made up of the heart muscle cells. It has two tasks, namely to pump the blood into the circulation so that the vessels can still carry the oxygen to the toes or to the cerebrum. And it creates electrical signals that keep that pump motor running. If the heart muscle is inflamed, the oxygen supply can suffer, especially during strenuous activities, and cardiac arrhythmias can occur. They often occur after a viral infection, especially with influenza flu or infection with Coxsackie viruses. With Sars-CoV-2, this has so far not been noticed. "Everything we currently know does not speak in favor of direct severe cardiac involvement in Covid-19," says the spokesman for the German Cardiac Society, Michael Böhmhe heads the department for cardiology and internal intensive care medicine at the University Hospital in Homburg.