Another hard blow for Moderna’s vaccine. At the end of this past October, Sweden announced they keep stopping using Moderna’s vaccine in people under 30 years old beyond December 1st because of a heart inflammation risk. The Swedish health authorities said the decision was made after reporting “an increased risk of side effects such as inflammation of the heart muscle or the pericardium”. Swedish health authorities said the heart symptoms “usually go away on their own,” but they must be assessed by a doctor.
Today, France is now advising against the use of Moderna for people under 30. As a matter of fact, this Monday November 8, the Haute Autorité de Santé in France shared the news, relying on a study conducted by the Health Insurance and the Medicines Agency showing Moderna’s vaccine slightly increases the risk of myocarditis and pericarditis in people under the age of 30.
Released this Monday, the study focuses on people aged 12 to 50 years old, hospitalized in France for myocarditis or pericarditis between May 15 and August 31, 2021, namely 919 cases of myocarditis and 917 cases of pericarditis – two heart inflammations affecting myocardium for the first one, and pericardium for the other. According to the study’s results, Pfizer’s and specifically Moderna’s vaccine do increase the risk of myocarditis and pericarditis within 7 days following vaccination, especially in men under 30 years of age.
Therefore, the Haute Autorité de Santé recommends “for people aged under 30 and as soon as possible to get the Pfizer’s vaccine so it can be used a prime vaccination or booster shot”, and Moderna’s vaccine “which vaccine effectiveness seems slightly better for prime vaccination and for a semi-dose booster shot in subjects over the age of 30”.
Following the institution’s report, the government announced on November 9, 2021 Moderna’s vaccine will be no longer used to immunize people under 30 against Covid-19, “whether it is prime vaccination or a booster shot”. The Health Director General yet reminds that “this report questions the use of Moderna’s vaccination in the vaccination campaign by no means” and “this risk – that is rare and self-limited – does not question the extremely favorable benefit-risk ratio of Covid-19 vaccines”.
