Sweden has extended a decision to pause the use of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine in people under age 30 as concerns continue regarding heart inflammation after the jab in that age group.
The Swedish health authorities say anyone born after 1990 will be offered an alternative vaccine, such as the Pfizer shot.
The European Medicines Agency has previously added the inflammatory heart conditions myocarditis and pericarditis as possible rare side effects of the Moderna vaccine, known as SpikeVax.
Other countries have also restricted the use of the shot in young people including Denmark, Iceland and Finland.
The Swedish pause in use was supposed to end December 1st but will now last beyond that date.
Sweden’s Public Health Agency says that as-yet unpublished data signals “an increased risk of side effects such as inflammation of the heart muscle or the pericardium” – although it added that “The risk of being affected is very small.”
The second dose of the Moderna vaccine is thought to be the one that usually causes the rare side effect.
The myocarditis risk is thought to fall off after age 30.