Vaccine Data Deficits: Jan. 4

Data deficit: Why did NFL player Damar Hamlin collapse?

Challenges:

  • NFL player Damar Hamlin collapsed and suffered cardiac arrest after being tackled during a football game on Monday, January 2. 
  • His heartbeat was restored and he was transferred to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. As of January 3, he remained in critical condition. 
  • Anti-vaccine advocates took to social media to claim – without evidence – that Hamlin’s collapse was an adverse event resulting from Covid-19 vaccination. 
  • Hamlin’s vaccination status is unknown at this time, but 95% of NFL players are vaccinated against Covid-19, according to the League. 

Fuels Rumors:

  • Anti-vaccine advocates have claimed for years now that mRNA vaccines cause serious cardiac-related adverse events, and that those events are especially common in young men.
  • Those same advocates have also claimed, with scant evidence, that a number of medical events suffered by athletes are, again, Covid-19 vaccine adverse events. 
  • Hamlin’s collapse and cardiac arrest served as another opportunity to shine renewed attention on these false claims.