A huge new Veterans Affairs study says the updated COVID shot cuts veterans’ heart attacks and strokes by as much as 40%—but the fine print raises big questions about what federal health officials are still not telling us.
Story Snapshot
- Over 1 million mostly older veterans in the VA system were studied after getting 2024–25 flu shots.
- Those who also took the updated COVID vaccine had fewer heart attacks, strokes, heart failure stays, and cardiac deaths.[4]
- The headline “38% lower risk” only applies to COVID-linked events, which were just about 1% of all heart problems.[4]
- Benefits were clearly proven only for veterans over age 75; younger vets saw no solid statistical gain.[3]
What This Massive VA Study Really Found
Researchers used Department of Veterans Affairs health records from fall 2024 to track more than 1 million veterans who got their annual flu shot.[4] About one third also took the 2024–2025 COVID vaccine on the same visit, while the rest received only the flu shot.[4][5] Over the next eight months, they watched for what doctors call major adverse cardiovascular events, which include heart attacks, strokes, heart failure hospital stays, and deaths from heart causes.[5]
The study, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, reported that veterans who took both flu and COVID shots had about a 38% lower risk of heart attack, stroke, heart failure, or cardiovascular death that was directly tied to a recorded COVID infection.[3] In simple terms, if a veteran had COVID and then a heart attack or stroke, that kind of event was less common in the vaccinated group.[2] The authors say this suggests the shot helped lessen COVID-triggered heart strain.[2]
Hidden Limits: Small Absolute Gains and Age Matters
The headlines sound huge, but the study itself calls the benefit “modest” for the overall group.[2] COVID-linked heart events were only around 1% of all major heart and stroke events in this veteran population, so even a 37.7% drop in that tiny slice does not overhaul total heart risk.[4] When researchers looked at all heart events, whether clearly tied to COVID or not, the vaccine’s effectiveness fell to about 6.2%.[4]
The most solid benefit showed up in veterans 75 and older, where vaccine effectiveness against COVID-related cardiovascular events reached about 50.7%.[3] For veterans under 75, the study did not find statistically strong protection against COVID-linked heart events.[3] That means the news is good for our oldest, sickest veterans, but far less clear for the rest. Yet many media reports simply told the public “up to 38% lower risk” without highlighting that age gap.[2]
Heart Attacks, Strokes, and Heart Failure: The Detailed Numbers
Digging deeper, summaries of the research note that vaccinated veterans were about 39–40% less likely to have a heart attack, a little over 30% less likely to have a stroke, and roughly 40% less likely to be hospitalized for heart failure during those eight months.[5] Cardiac deaths also dropped by more than half in the vaccinated group.[5] These numbers line up with other work showing fewer heart attacks and strokes after COVID vaccination in England’s adult population as well.[7]
Researchers and outside experts think this pattern fits what we have seen for decades with flu and pneumonia shots, which often lower heart risks by preventing severe lung infections that inflame blood vessels.[6][7] In other words, the shot is not magic heart medicine. It may simply prevent or soften infections that would otherwise push a fragile heart over the edge. That does not erase any safety questions. It just explains why fewer infections can mean fewer heart emergencies for older, high‑risk people.[6]
Why Conservatives Should Still Demand Honest Data
The VA team used something called “target trial emulation,” an advanced way to mimic a randomized trial using real‑world records instead of assigning patients by lottery.[3] This method is useful but not bulletproof. Both groups got the flu shot, which itself is known to lower heart risk.[6] That makes it harder to tease out how much of the benefit belongs to the COVID shot alone and how much comes from flu protection or from the kind of veteran who agrees to take more vaccines.[5]
1/ Interesting study. I don’t mean to question its quality or results: in a very large VA cohort, the 2024–25 COVID vaccine was associated with lower COVID-associated cardiovascular risk, especially in older and higher-risk groups. 🧵 pic.twitter.com/cpkcJlHA2t
— Cristina Dragani (@CristinaDragani) June 22, 2026
For conservatives, several takeaways stand out. First, older, medically fragile veterans may see some real short‑term heart protection from the updated COVID shot, but the effect size is modest and mostly proven only after age 75.[3][4] Second, the same federal health system that once pushed mandates and censored doubts is now asking us to trust complex observational studies instead of straightforward randomized trials. That makes transparency, outside replication, and full access to VA data more important than ever for protecting both our veterans and our medical freedom.
Sources:
[2] Web – COVID-19 vaccine linked with lower risk of heart attack, stroke: Study
[3] Web – Covid vaccination cut risk of adverse heart events, large study finds
[4] Web – Covid vaccine linked to broad protections against heart conditions …
[5] Web – 2024-2025 COVID-19 Vaccine and Major Adverse Cardiovascular …
[7] Web – COVID-19 News Briefs – VA Research
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