Moderna is standing by its COVID-19 vaccine in the wake of concerns being raised around the world about the jab causing rare heart inflammation in young people.
In recent weeks, seven European countries have either banned the shot for adults younger than 30 years old or recommended against it.
Swedish health officials have provided data that showed that myocarditis was more common in young men who were given the vaccine than it is for those who are not vaccinated with the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine.
Moderna recognizes the concerns. However, they say the potential benefits outweigh the risks. They point out that the jab is the best at stopping COVID-19 infection.
Moderna’s officials defend the COVID-19 vaccination (pictured), after being recommended by several European countries to not use it in children. This is despite concerns over heart inflammation.
The CDC has found that myocarditis is more common in young men who have received the Moderna COVID-19 vaccination than the Pfizer jab. The following is an unpublished Swedish health data.
‘While I think health authorities are carefully assessing the data, being appropriately cautious, you can see that they continue to recommend the use of the mRNA-1273 Moderna vaccine,’ Dr Paul Burton said during a media call on Thursday.
“We think that there is a very positive balance between risk and benefit.”
Earlier this week, STIKO (German advisory committee) recommended residents aged under 30 get the Pfizer vaccine and not the Moderna jab.
Germany has joined an increasing number of European countries that are advising their younger citizens not to receive Moderna’s vaccination due to fears it may cause heart inflammation.
Unpublished Swedish data showed that Moderna recipients had a higher risk of developing heart disease than those who received the Pfizer jab.
After reviewing the data, Finland, Sweden and Denmark quickly stopped using the Moderna vaccination in the young after they reviewed it.
France and Norway also made similar suggestions to Germany.
Iceland did the most dramatic thing: it stopped using the Moderna vaccine in its entirety.
U.S. officials are firm in their support of emergency authorizations for jabs for Americans aged 18 and older. Moderna’s booster shots, which contain the same medication but with a lower dose, was recently approved by them.
However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that young people are at greater risk from getting shot.
Men under 29 years old who have received the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines are more likely to develop myocarditis.
Even in the youngest age group, the risk of heart inflammation is not as high for females than it is for males.
The agency published data at an advisory meeting last month that showed a slightly increased risk of heart disease in men aged 18-24 who received the Moderna jab rather than the Pfizer. There was also a 70% increase in the risk for people aged 25-29.
Data from the CDC indicate that there is a risk for women, although it is insignificant.
Officials at Moderna defend the jab, pointing out its effectiveness and that it’s the best shot to prevent Covid infection in the U.S. currently.
According to recent data, the Public Health Institute found that Covid infection is 58 percent lower in people who had received the Moderna vaccine.
For comparison, Pfizer recipients are 43 percent less likely and Johnson & Johnson vaccine recipients are 13 percent protected.
Moderna is a widely-used vaccine in America. The Moderna vaccine was used 165 million time and has been fully vaccinated by 71million people.
However, officials are not yet able to identify why Moderna male recipients are more vulnerable.
It uses the same messenger RNA technology as in the Pfizer shot.
Some suspect that male hormones might be interfering in some way with vaccines to produce these harmful effects.
Burton stated to reporters that he believed the hypothesis of testosterone was important.
“We are aware that testosterone can cause inflammation.
“We do have 100 micrograms mRNA in the primary sequence, which is why we are slightly lower on spike protein. That could also be contributing to our success.”