- Sydney teen diagnosed with heart condition after first Covid jab
- Monica Eskandar missed her HSC exams after being diagnosed with pericarditis
- Now top Sydney cardiologist Dr Ross Walker has called for a ban on mRNA jabs
- He’s seen a rise in heart conditions over past 12 months relating to Covid jabs
- He believes other Covid vaccines are ‘just as good’ as Pfizer and Moderna
A teenage schoolgirl has revealed how she had to miss her HSC exams after a mandatory Covid jab left her with an agonising heart condition for months.
Now a Sydney cardiologist has called for an end to the use of mRNA vaccines like Pfizer and Moderna, after seeing a rise in jab-related heart conditions.
Monica Eskandar, 18, was rushed to hospital with terrifying chest pains just hours after her first Covid vaccination in September last year.
Doctors later diagnosed her with pericarditis, a condition linked with mRNA Covid jabs like Pfizer and Moderna, which causes painful inflammation of the heart lining.
‘Getting Covid is ten times worse than getting vaccinated – but we don’t need to use mRNA vaccines like Pfizer and Moderna,’ cardiologist Dr Ross Walker told Daily Mail Australia.
‘We have to put COVID in perspective where it is right now, not where it was 12 months ago, because it has changed and I think we are seeing a change.’
The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation last year mandated mRNA vaccines for all booster shots unless it’s specifically dangerous for individuals.
But Dr Walker said he has no idea why.
‘We have alternatives like AstraZeneca and Novavax which are just as good,’ he said.
‘I’ve seen many people getting vaccine reactions, who get symptoms for about three to six months afterwards.
‘I’ve seen 60-70 patients in my own practice over the past 12 months who have had similar reactions.
‘I’ve seen other people with chest pain, shortness of breath, heart palpitations.’
ATAGI has blocked second booster jabs (the fourth jab in total) for most people under 30, unless they are specifically at risk, over side effect fears.
‘A 30-year-old who gets Covid is probably not going to get into any trouble with it as opposed to a 60 or 70-year-old,’ ATAGI member Professor Cheng said earlier this month.
‘A 30-year-old with three doses will be optimally protected.
‘But the more doses you get, the less benefit you derive from them and then we start to worry about causing side effects.’
Government figures say there have been 136,000 cases of adverse cardio reactions which were jab related from more than 63million vaccination doses.
Just 0.2 per cent of the population have been affected by heart side effects but the impact for those affected can be devastating.
Ms Eskandar, from Sydney, missed out on sitting her HSC completely as a result of the jab-induced pericarditis which she said was ironic as that was the only reason she got vaccinated.
‘I was forced to get the jab to sit my HSC,’ Ms Eskandar told Ben Fordham. ‘However the day I got it, I had an adverse reaction.
‘After many specialists and tests, they discovered I had pericarditis as a direct result of the vaccine. I was on treatment for six months.
‘I had severe pains, and the irony of all ironies, I was too sick to sit my HSC after all of that.’
She revealed how she had to battle with doctors to be diagnosed with the condition after her symptoms were repeatedly dismissed.
Doctors initially insisted the condition only affected males, not teenage girls, but she persisted until an ultrasound finally confirmed the diagnosis.
‘I got my first jab and I instantly started to feel sick,’ she said. ‘My arm swelling up and hurting. I went home I took a nap.
‘As soon as I woke up, my eyes were very puffy. I had a rash and my lips were very swollen.
‘My mum called the ambulance and as we were waiting for the ambulance to arrive, I got a severe pain – it wasn’t like a stitch, it was like cramp in the chest.
‘You can’t breathe. You can’t sit, you can’t lay down. It’s horrible. You actually feel like you’re having a heart attack.
‘I was just holding my chest and told my mum, there’s something really wrong with my heart.’
Paramedics put her on an ECG and suspected it was pericarditis and directed her to see a doctor who told her to go home, take Panadol and rest for a few days.
‘That’s what I did, but it got worse,’ she said. ‘It started to spread to my shoulder and my back and I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t eat. I literally couldn’t move.
‘It was horrible, absolutely horrible.’
After the ultrasound confirmed Covid-related pericarditis, Ms Eskandar was exempted from a second dose of the vaccine and fitted with a 24 hour heart monitor.
She has now had to get an ATAR rating based on studies throughout her school career after missing out on her Year 12 exams.
‘After 13 years of school, I didn’t sit my HSC,’ she revealed. ‘I got an ATAR according to my past results, so luckily I did well in those last 13 years!’
Covid has also been linked to myocarditis, which is similar but usually more serious than pericarditis, where the middle layer of the heart wall becomes inflamed.
It can lead to heart failure and sudden death, and can result in a pacemaker needing to be fitted.
In the general population, case numbers of myocarditis from Covid are about the same as myocarditis from Covid jabs at 3.2 per 100,000.
But Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration has found the risk increases substantially after mRNA-based vaccines for boys aged 12-17 and men under 30.
Around 24 boys aged 12-17 in 100,000 can suffer myocarditis after being vaccinated with Moderna, while that risk is about 13 per 100,000 for those jabbed with Pfizer.
Men under 30 have a 23 in 100,000 risk after Moderna jabs and 9 in a 100,000 for Pfizer.
‘These mRNA vaccines are very pro-inflammatory,’ said Dr Walker. ‘It’s very rare to have full blown myocarditis where the hearts like a big floppy bag not pumping well.
‘But I’ve seen a lot of people get chest pain, shortness of breath, palpitations, and their heart seems okay.
‘They have evidence of some changes on the ECG or some heart damage on the blood tests.’
Up to the end of October, TGA has had 704 reports of myocarditis from 44.2 million Pfizer doses of Pfizer, and 115 from 5.4 million Moderna doses, with just one Covid-jab related myocarditis death.
ATAGI still recommends a first booster/third jab for the general population as the benefits outweigh the risks.
But it has blocked approval for a fourth jab/second booster for most under 30 after ruling the risk versus the potential benefit made it unnecessary.
A third booster/fifth jab has still not been approved for the general population over summer, despite the current outbreak.
ATAGI believes the general public can wait until closer to winter and a new possible outbreak before the next vaccination drive.
The TGA added: ‘Based on current evidence, the benefits of vaccination at a population level continue to far outweigh the risks for the mRNA vaccines.’