Sweden suspends use of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine for people 30 and younger, Denmark for those under 18
Sweden has discontinued the use of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine for those aged 30 and younger, while Denmark has done the same for those under 18, and both countries say that the move has been made with the utmost care and is based on a Nordic study.
Keyword:
- Sweden has paused to use the Modern COVID vaccine in adults 30 and younger
- Sweden recommends people born during and after 1991 to use Pfizer / BioNTech’s Comirnaty vaccine instead
- The break from both Sweden and Denmark is based on a Nordic study
The study indicated a potential small increase in the risk of myocarditis and pericarditis among adolescents and young adults with the Moderna vaccine.
“The increase in risk is seen within four weeks after vaccination, mainly within the first two weeks,” says the Swedish Public Health Agency.
Anders Tegnell, Sweden’s epidemiologist, said that the nation would “follow the situation closely and act quickly to ensure that vaccinations against COVID-19 are always as safe as possible and at the same time provide effective protection.”
The Swedish agency said that Pfizer’s vaccine is now the recommended vaccine for these age groups instead. The decision to discontinue the Moderna vaccine is valid until 1 December.
Sweden has previously discontinued the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine following concerns about a rare link to blood clots.
In July, the European Medicines Agency recommended approving the Mother’s COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 12-17, the first time the shot has been approved for people under 18.
The Australian National Medical Supervisory Authority (TGA) said it was aware of the study and was closely monitoring the “rare occurrence”.
“To date, there have been no confirmed cases of myocarditis and pericarditis after approximately 180,000 doses of the Modern COVID-19 vaccine in Australia,” the statement said.
“[There have been] three reports of suspected but not yet confirmed cases of pericarditis associated with Modern COVID-19 vaccines. “
TGA said it would continue to work closely with other regulators, including by sharing safety information.
Denmark is also announcing a break
In Denmark, people under the age of 18 will not be offered the Moderna vaccine with caution, the Danish health authority said on Wednesday.
It is said that data collected from the Nordic study show that there is a suspicion of an increased risk of heart inflammation when vaccinated with Moderna shots, even though the number of cases is very low.
The preliminary data from the Nordic study have been sent to the European Medicines Agency’s negative reaction committee and will now be assessed.
The study was conducted by the Danish National Serum Institute, an authority that maps the spread of COVID-19 in the country – the Medical Products Agency in Sweden, the National Institute of Public Health in Norway and the Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) in Finland.
The final results are expected in about a month.
In Denmark, children and young people aged 12-17 have primarily been invited to receive the COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer / BioNTech.
“Based on the precautionary principle, in the future we will only invite children and young people to receive this vaccine, not least given that it is for this vaccine that the largest amount of data from use is available for children and young people, especially from the United States and Israel, says Bolette Soeborg from the state health service.
The mother’s vaccine was given the green light for use in all 18 years and older in 27 EU countries in January.
It has also been licensed in countries such as the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States, but so far its use has not been extended to children.
Hundreds of millions of Modern doses have already been administered to adults.
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AP