Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many cases of post-vaccine (a) myocarditis and (b) pericarditis have been identified by NHS England since January 2020.

Data on an individual’s complete vaccination record is held by their general practitioner. Although recent vaccinations may be identified and recorded within individual patient hospital records upon presentation and diagnosis with myocarditis or pericarditis, there is no single data platform available to systematically identify patients presenting with these conditions in a time period following any vaccination.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is responsible for monitoring the safety of all vaccines authorised in the United Kingdom. One of the sources of safety information is reports received through the Yellow Card scheme, which collects and monitors information on suspected side effects following any medicinal product or device.

Since January 2020 MHRA has received 1217 Yellow Card reports of myocarditis, 161 Yellow Card reports of myopericarditis and 979 Yellow Card reports of pericarditis following receipt of a vaccine. It is important to note that a Yellow Card report does not necessarily mean the vaccine caused that reported events.