Sweden, Denmark Pause Moderna's Covid-19 Vaccine For Younger Age Groups

(RTTNews) - Sweden and Denmark on Wednesday announced that they are temporarily stopping the use of Moderna's (MRNA) COVID-19 vaccine for younger age groups due to reports of side effects.

The Public Health Agency of Sweden said it decided to pause the use of Moderna's vaccine Spikevax, for anyone born in 1991 and later, as a precaution, due to increased risk of side effects such as inflammation of the heart muscle or pericardium.

"New preliminary analyses from Swedish and Nordic data sources suggest that the link is particularly clear when it comes to Moderna's vaccine Spikevax, especially after the second dose. The increase in risk is seen within four weeks of vaccination, mainly within the first two weeks," the Swedish health agency said.

The decision is valid until 1 December 2021.

"We are following the situation closely and are acting quickly to ensure that vaccinations against COVID-19 are always as safe as possible and at the same time provide effective protection against COVID-19," says Anders Tegnell, Head of Department and State Epidemiologist at the Public Health Agency of Sweden.

Meanwhile, Denmark, which is using Pfizer/BioNTech' Covid-19 vaccine as its main option for people aged 12-17 years, said it has decided to pause the Moderna vaccine for people below 18 as a "precautionary principle".

"In the preliminary data ... there is a suspicion of an increased risk of heart inflammation, when vaccinated with Moderna," the Danish Health Authority said in a statement.

MRNA is currently trading at $316.08, down $16.03 or 4.83%, on the Nasdaq.