Sweden extends pause of Moderna’s vaccine in young people
Sweden extends pause of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine in young people under 30 due to concerns the shot causes rare heart inflammation
- Sweden has extended a pause of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine in people under age 30 beyond the original December 1 date to an unknown date
- No one born after 1990 can receive the Moderna shot in Sweden and will instead be offered the Pfizer vaccine
- Other countries have also restricted the use of the shot in young people including Denmark, Iceland and Finland
- Nordic nations cite unpublished data showing the Moderna shot causes rare cases of heart inflammation in young people as the reason for decision
- The CDC has warned that heart inflammation is a potential side effect of the vaccine when used in young males
Swedish health officials are extending the pause of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine in young people over continued concerns that the shot causes rare heart inflammation cases.
The pause was initially supposed to last until December 1, but will now last beyond that to a date that is yet to be announced.
Sweden is one of four Nordic nations that restricted the use of the jab in young people this month, with a fifth, Norway, also discouraging younger males from getting the Moderna shot.
he concerns arising about the vaccine in Europe, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has stood by its authorization of the shots, and even authorized booster shots of the vaccine earlier this week.
The pause of use of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine in young people in Sweden will continue beyond the original December 1 date, public health officials announced (file photo)
The Moderna vaccine has been tied to cases of heart inflammation, particularly in young people, leading to officials in the Nordic country putting a pause on its use in some populations. Pictured: A woman in Ishoej, Denmark, receives a dose of a COVID-19 vaccine on September 11
Sweden paused usage of the Moderna COVID-19 shot in everyone born after 1990 earlier this month.
The decision came after health officials viewed data that found the shots were causing cases of myocarditis in young people who got the vaccine.
Sweden's Public Health Agency says that the unpublished data signals 'an increased risk of side effects such as inflammation of the heart muscle or the pericardium' - the double-walled sac containing the heart and the roots of the main vessels.
It added: 'The risk of being affected is very small.'
That data is still not publicly available.
Denmark followed Sweden's lead, and restricted access to the vaccine to anyone under the age of 18 as well.
The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare said earlier this month that authorities won't give the vaccine to males under age 30, and they will be offered the Pfizer-BioNTech immunization instead, also citing the heart inflammation data.
Iceland also paused use of the vaccine citing concerns from the same data.
Norway, another Nordic country, has not taken as drastic action as its neighbors, with health officials urging people under 30 to opt for the Pfizer vaccine instead.
Myocarditis and pericarditis, both types of inflammation of the heart, are known side effects of the Covid vaccines, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) even warns that the condition may develop in young males after vaccination.
Heart inflammation is also a symptom of many viral infections like COVID-19, though, and the likelihood of developing the inflammation after infection is much higher than it is after vaccination.
Those conditions involve an inflammation of the heart or its lining.
On Thursday, data on the Moderna vaccines likelihood to cause heart inflammation was presented to a CDC advisory panel.
The presentation showed that males were much more likely to develop the condition than females - with those aged 18 to 24 at most risk, and the 25 to 29 group at risk as well.
The second dose of the vaccine is also the one that usually causes the condition.
Myocarditis risk falls off after age 30, though.
Malesunder the age of 29 who receive the Pfizer (right) or Moderna (left) vaccine are at an increased risk of developing myocarditis after the second dose
Females do not share the same risk of developing heart inflammation as males do, even among the younger age groups
Researchers found that in both males and females, the risk of myocarditis is higher in people that receive the Moderna vaccine than the Pfizer. There are approximately 13.3 excess cases of heart inflammation per every one million shots of the Moderna vaccine than there are of the Pfizer shot READ MORE HERE>>>Sweden extends pause of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine in young people under 30 due to concerns the shot causes rare heart inflammation