WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 Unfounded claims about the safety of COVID-19 vaccines proliferated in the hours and days after Buffalo Bills safety\u00a0Damar Hamlin\u00a0collapsed during Monday\u2019s game, revealing how pervasive vaccine misinformation remains three years after the pandemic began.
\nEven before Hamlin was carried off the field in Cincinnati, posts amassing thousands of shares and millions of views began circulating online claiming without evidence that complications from COVID-19 vaccines caused his\u00a0health emergency.
\nWhile cardiac specialists say it\u2019s too soon to know\u00a0what caused Hamlin\u2019s heart to stop, they\u2019ve offered a rare type of trauma called commotio cordis as among the possible culprits. Physicians interviewed by The Associated Press say there\u2019s no indication Hamlin\u2019s vaccine status played a role, and said there\u2019s no evidence to support claims that a number of young athletes have died as a result of COVID vaccinations.
\nPeter McCullough, a Dallas cardiologist and\u00a0outspoken vaccine critic, amplified the theories on a Fox News segment hosted by Tucker Carlson on Tuesday, speculating that \u201cvaccine-induced myocarditis,\u201d may have caused Hamlin\u2019s episode. While the Bills have not said whether Hamlin was vaccinated, about 95% of NFL players have received a COVID-19 vaccine,\u00a0according to the league.
\nIn his Tuesday segment, Carlson claimed McCullough and another researcher found that \u201cmore than 1,500 total cardiac arrests\u201d have occurred among European athletes \u201csince the vax campaign began.\u201d
\nBut Carlson was citing a letter in which the authors\u2019 evidence was a dubious blog that lists news reports of people all over the world, of all ages, dying or experiencing medical emergencies. The blog proves no relationship between the incidents and COVID-19 vaccines; it also includes in its count reported deaths from cancer and emergencies of unknown causes.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s not real research, but he quotes it as if it\u2019s real research,\u201d said Dr. Matthew Martinez, director of sports cardiology at Atlantic Health System in Morristown Medical Center. \u201cAnybody can write a letter to the editor and then quote an article that has no academic rigor.\u201d
\nMany social media users have also\u00a0shared deceptive videos\u00a0that purport to show athletes collapsing on-field because of COVID-19 vaccines. However, several of the cases shown have been proven to be from other causes.
\nThough anti-vaccine influencers have insisted that sudden cardiac arrests during sports games are unprecedented, cardiologists say they\u2019ve observed these traumatic events throughout their careers, and long before the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n