Young people with dilated cardiomyopathy and any patients with severe congenital heart disease should consult a GP or other specialist before getting Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine, ATAGI says.   

The group has published the first Australian guidance on myocarditis and pericarditis following administration of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, such as Pfizer’s or the soon-to-be-used Moderna vaccine.   

The guidance, co-produced with the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand, stresses the benefits of the vaccine are “overwhelming”.

But it says extra caution is warranted for patients with inflammatory cardiac illness, current acute rheumatic fever, complex or severe congenital heart disease or acute decompensated heart failure, plus patients aged 12-29 with dilated cardiomyopathy and any cardiac transplant recipients.