Increase In Heart Rate Is Observed After Receiving SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine

May, 2021 - By WMR

A team of researchers from the Scripps Research Translational Institute in California, U.S., led an investigation to obtain data for physiological responses to SARS-CoV-2 vaccine.

Countries across the globe such as the U.K., Israel, the U.S., India, and others are running vaccination drives to combat severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). As the vaccine rollout continues, there have been reports that vaccinated individuals are experiencing side effects such as headache, tiredness, fever, nausea, muscle and joint pain, and others. Mr. Giogiro Quer and Mr. Matteo Gadaleta and a team of researchers of the Scripps Research Translational Institute conducted an investigation using a smartphone-based app, the DETECT software, to obtain data that reported physiological responses from smart watches. They observed that after receiving a vaccination, heart rate of individuals increases. They noted this observation in individuals under the age of 40 who were vaccinated with the Moderna vaccine and had contracted COVID-19 earlier. Pfizer- BioNTech, Moderna, and Janssen/Johnson & Johnson vaccines are being administered to the general public in the U.S. Mr. Quer and Mr. Gadaleta and their team used the DETECT software to collect data from over 4,000 people in the U.S. These 4,000 people had received at least one dosage of any of the vaccines. The researchers recorded the heart rate of these participants prior to vaccination, days before and after the vaccination. These participants were divided into three categories based on their age groups such as less than 40, between 40 to 60, and greater than 60. The research team then interpreted the heart rates of these participants to infer the physiological symptoms observed due to vaccines.

The researchers concluded that an additional increase of 1.5 beats per minute was observed after receiving a vaccine dosage. The researchers also added that the result was same irrespective of any gender, only ages of participants and previously infected by SARS-CoV-2 did affect the heart rate. Thy added that the wearable sensor technology has shed light at the effects of vaccines but in-depth assessment has to be conducted.