Sweden pauses use of Moderna COVID vaccine for younger age groups

File Picture

Sweden will pause the use of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine for people born 1991 and later after reports of possible rare side effects, such as myocarditis, the Swedish health agency said on Wednesday.

The health agency said data pointed to an increase of myocarditis and pericarditis among youths and young adults that had been vaccinated.

"The connection is especially clear when it comes to Moderna's vaccine Spikevax, especially after the second dose," it said in a statement," adding the risk of being affected was very small.

The health agency said it now recommended the Comirnaty vaccine from Pfizer/Biontech instead. People born 1991 or later that had received a first Moderna shot, some 81,000 people, would not get a second Moderna jab, it added.

Earlier this week the Swedish health agency said people aged 12-15 would only get the Pfizer/Biontech vaccine.

The European Medicines Agency approved the use of Comirnaty in May, while Spikevax was given the nod for children over 12 in July.

More from International

  • Israeli forces kill dozens in deeper Gaza push

    Israeli forces killed 35 Palestinians in aerial and ground bombardments across the Gaza Strip on Thursday and battled in close combat with Hamas in areas of the southern city of Rafah, health officials and Hamas media said.

  • Iran's President Raisi to be buried in Mashhad

    Iran's late President Ebrahim Raisi is set to be buried in the holy city of Mashhad on Thursday evening, four days after he was killed in a helicopter crash along with foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and six other people.

  • Russian attack on Ukraine's Kharkiv kills six

    A Russian missile attack on Ukraine's northeastern city of Kharkiv killed at least six people and wounded at least 11 on Thursday, local authorities said.

  • China launches 'punishment' war games around Taiwan

    A furious China launched "punishment" drills around Taiwan on Thursday in what it said was a response to "separatist acts", sending up heavily armed warplanes and staging mock attacks as state media denounced newly inaugurated President Lai Ching-te.

  • Nine dead, 50 injured in Mexico stage collapse

    Nine people have died and around 50 were injured after a structure collapsed at a campaign event for the Citizens' Movement party in the northern Mexican state of Nuevo Leon.

Coming Up on Dubai Eye

  • Nights on Dubai Eye 103.8

    11:00pm - 6:00am

    Dubai Eye complements the conversation with the music you love from the eighties, nineties and newer.

  • The Business Breakfast

    6:00am - 10:00am

    The Business Breakfast is the day’s must listen for the UAE’s business leaders, and those who aspire to be.

BUSINESS BREAKFAST LATEST

On Dubai Eye

  • Flying Taxis

    It sounds like an episode of The Jetsons, but the sight of flying taxis whizzing around our cities could be much closer than you think.

  • Tough penalties for deliberate tax evasion

    The UAE has said that tougher penalties will come into force from 1st August for not keeping proper corporate tax records.