The study itself is very convincing, as it is based not upon a statistical analysis of deaths based upon ICD codes or anything like that. It is based entirely on autopsies conducted by the researchers themselves, all in a single hospital on patients who had experienced sudden deaths following shortly after COVID-19 vaccinations using mRNA vaccines. mRNA are apparently the vaccines likely to cause the adverse reactions.
They do no analysis of relative risk between COVID infection and vaccine reactions, and understandably so. It is essentially impossible to do that given that almost everybody has been infected by COVID at some point, but the precise numbers are unknown. Hence there is no definitive way to compare the relative risks, although it is known that COVID itself can cause myocarditis, as can other viral infections.
However, it is pretty clear that the risk is not insubstantial, given the fact that 5 patients were identified in a relatively short period of time at one hospital alone in Berlin. We cannot safely extrapolate from there to any particular number of cases in Germany or elsewhere, but the risk is obviously quite real. That is why Germany recommends against using the Moderna vaccine in anybody under 30. A precaution not made in the United States, where our public health officials are pushing the vaccine heavily and with no distinction between them.
Several interesting things came out of the study, including a few specific things that were unknown before. Among them is that they identified the mechanism causing the deaths, which mimics in miniature what COVID can do when it becomes life threatening.
Here are a few bits from the study, including the population studied and their conclusions. -- Among the 35 cases of the University of Heidelberg, autopsies revealed other causes of death (due to pre-existing illnesses) in 10 patients (Supplementary Table 1). Hence, these were excluded from further analysis. Cardiac autopsy findings consistent with (epi-)myocarditis were found in five cases of the remaining 25 bodies found unexpectedly dead at home within 20 days following SARS-CoV-2 vaccination. Main characteristics of the five cases are presented in Table 2, while further autopsy findings are shown in Supplementary Table 2. Three of the deceased persons were women, two men. Median age at death was 58 years (range 46–75 years). Four persons died after the first vaccine jab, the remaining case after the second dose. All persons died within the first week following vaccination (mean 2.5 days, median 2 days).