Citing concerns of an increased risk of heart inflammation, the Food and Drug Administration is delaying its decision on administration of the Moderna vaccine to young people.
The agency is planning to review the data regarding myocarditis further before making a decision, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Moderna’s chief medical officer, Paul Burton, told the Journal he believes “people can be reassured that the risk of myocarditis with an mRNA vaccine is low.”
However, Sweden, Finland and Norway have halted the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine for younger people, and Iceland has stopped administering the shot to everyone, as WND reported.
Iceland’s chief epidemiologist cited data from the Nordic countries on the increased incidence of myocarditis and pericarditis after vaccination. For the past two months, the Moderna vaccine has been used in Iceland almost exclusively as a booster shot, a third dose.
And on Friday, France’s health authority advised against using the Moderna vaccine because of the myocarditis risk.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the cases of inflammation have tended to occur a few days after the second COVID-19 vaccine injection.
Last week, an FDA panel unanimously endorsed a half-dose booster shot for older and at-risk adults.
This Friday, FDA officials will decide whether or not to approve Pfizer’s request for emergency authorization for its vaccine for children ages 5 to 11.
Pfizer and Moderna employ the messenger RNA technology, which “teach” cells to make a protein that triggers an immune response rather than inserting a live virus, as do traditional vaccines.
The Hill reported the CDC is allowing states to preorder doses for young children prior to authorization.
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