On this illustration from 19.
Given Ruvic | Reuters
Moderna on Thursday defended the use of its Covid-19 vaccine, saying the protection it offers from serious illness, hospitalization and death outweighs the risk of myocarditis, a rare heart disease that occurs in a small number of young men who received the syringe.
The company announced last week that, given reports of myocarditis, the Food and Drug Administration would need more time to decide whether to approve the two-dose vaccine for use in children ages 12-17 Myocarditis examined.
Reported cases of rare heart inflammation in men under the age of 30 are relatively higher after the Moderna vaccine than those who received the vaccinations administered by Pfizer and BioNTech, said Dr. Moderna chief medical officer Paul Burton told reporters Thursday.
Burton cited data from France on men aged 12 to 29 years. It found that there were 13.3 cases of myocarditis per 100,000 people for the Moderna vaccine compared to 2.7 cases per 100,000 people for the Pfizer vaccine.
However, he also pointed to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which showed that rates of mild or severe illness from Covid were lower in Moderna recipients than in those who received the Pfizer or Johnson & Johnson vaccines. For example, there were 86 breakthrough cases per 100,000 people for the Moderna vaccine. That compares to 135 breakthrough cases per 100,000 at Pfizer, he said.
The data also showed that unvaccinated people had an 11 times higher risk of death compared to those who received the vaccinations.
“Although I think the health authorities are carefully evaluating the data and being appropriately cautious, you can see that they continue to recommend the use of the mRNA-1273 Moderna vaccine,” he said in the call. “We believe the risk-benefit balance is extremely positive,” he added.
More than 71 million Americans are fully vaccinated with the Moderna vaccine, according to the CDC.
Europe approved Moderna’s vaccine for use in adolescents in July. However, some countries, such as Finland and Sweden, have stopped using the vaccine in people under 30 due to concerns about myocarditis.
Scientists are still trying to figure out why young men have heart disease after vaccination, but some hypothetical hormones may play a role, especially testosterone, as well as the fact that Moderna’s vaccine uses a higher dose of mRNA than Pfizer’s said Burton.
“I think this testosterone hypothesis is important,” said Burton. “We know that there is indeed some inflammation associated with testosterone. … We have 100 micrograms of mRNA in the primary series, as you know, so we have slightly higher spike protein levels, and that could be a factor. “As well.”
Burton said the company has not seen any cases of myocarditis in those who received its booster, which is half the dose of its primary series of vaccinations. He said the company will continue to monitor the cases. Reported cases of myocarditis are generally mild and symptoms usually go away on their own, he said.
