'Siddaramaiah should apologise for linking Covid jabs with heart attacks', says BJP as expert panel rejects claim

Bengaluru: BJP on Sunday demanded an apology from Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for attributing a spate of cardiac arrests in Karnataka—particularly in Hassan district—to COVID-19 vaccination, after an expert panel found no evidence to support the claim.

A panel constituted by the government concluded that there is no single cause behind the observed increase in sudden cardiac deaths. Rather, it described the phenomenon as multifactorial, with behavioural, genetic, and environmental risk factors contributing.

The BJP said the Chief Minister must issue an unconditional apology for making what it called a “baseless allegation.” Calling Siddaramaiah’s remarks “irresponsible,” Union Minister Pralhad Joshi pointed out that premier national institutions including the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), and AIIMS-Delhi have all clarified that there is no scientific evidence linking COVID-19 vaccines to heart attacks.

“Siddaramaiah is deliberately making such statements because the vaccine was developed during Prime Minister Modi’s tenure,” Joshi said in Hubballi. “They assumed the pandemic would politically damage the Prime Minister—people would suffer and turn against him. But PM Modi handled COVID with sensitivity and care.” Joshi said that because the Prime Minister was widely credited with managing the pandemic effectively, the opposition was resorting to unfounded claims.

“After ICMR, NCDC and AIIMS refuted any link between vaccines and cardiac events, now the Karnataka government’s own Jayadeva Institute of Cardiology—a reputed institution not just in the state but across India—has also found no correlation,” Joshi said.

He noted that the committee, led by Dr. Ravindranath, Director of the Jayadeva Institute, was set up by Siddaramaiah himself to examine any possible link between COVID vaccination and cardiac deaths.

“The panel has clearly stated that COVID vaccines are not the cause of heart attacks. Will Siddaramaiah apologise now? I strongly condemn his statement,” Joshi added.

BJP spokesperson Dr CN Ashwath Narayan also criticised Siddaramaiah, alleging that his statement was aimed at discrediting Indian-made vaccines and undermining the Prime Minister.

“He questioned the efficacy of a vaccine that saved millions of lives, without citing any scientific basis. Chief minister should apologise to the people of the state for spreading misinformation,” Narayan said.

The observational study conducted at Jayadeva Institute found no association between premature cardiovascular disease and prior COVID-19 infection or vaccination.

“Most global studies and reports did not find any causal link between COVID-19 vaccination and sudden cardiac events. On the contrary, vaccination has been shown to offer long-term protection against cardiac issues,” the panel noted.

Recently, Siddaramaiah had suggested that a spate of heart attack deaths in Hassan district could be linked to the COVID-19 vaccination drive. He had also claimed that the vaccines were “hastily” approved. His comments drew strong criticism from Biocon Executive Chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw.