Sweden and Denmark suspend Moderna COVID jabs for younger age groups | Coronavirus pandemic News



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The breaks come amid reports of possible rare side effects from the Moderna jab, including heart inflammation.

Sweden and Denmark have said they will suspend use of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine for younger age groups after reports of possible rare side effects, such as myocarditis.

The Swedish health agency said on Wednesday it would suspend use of the vaccine for people born in 1991 and after, as data indicated an increase in myocarditis and pericarditis in young people and young adults who had been vaccinated. These conditions involve inflammation of the heart or its lining.

“The link is particularly clear when it comes to Moderna’s Spikevax vaccine, especially after the second dose,” the health agency said in a statement, adding that the risk of being affected was very low.

Anders Tegnell, Sweden’s chief epidemiologist, said the health agency will continue to “monitor the situation closely and act quickly to ensure that COVID-19 vaccinations are still as safe as possible and at the same time provide effective protection ”against disease.

In Denmark, people under 18 will not be offered the Moderna vaccine as a precaution, the Danish health authority said on Wednesday.

He said the data, collected from four Nordic countries, shows that there is a suspicion of an increased risk of heart inflammation when vaccinated with Moderna injections, although the number of cases of heart inflammation remains. very weak.

Preliminary data from the Nordic study has been sent to the Adverse Reactions Committee of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and will now be evaluated.

Sweden and Denmark said they now recommend Pfizer / BioNTech’s Comirnaty vaccine instead.

Norway already recommends the Cominarty vaccine to minors and said on Wednesday it is repeating it, stressing that rare side effects may be more common in boys and young men, and mainly after receiving a second dose.

“Men under the age of 30 should also consider choosing Cominarty when getting vaccinated,” Geir Bukholm, head of infection control at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, said in a statement.

A Finnish health official said Finland expected to release a decision on Thursday.

The EMA approved the use of Comirnaty in May, while Spikevax was given the green light for children over 12 in July.



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