Myocarditis and pericarditis, both types of inflammation of the heart, are known side effects of the Covid vaccines, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) even warns that the condition may develop in young males after vaccination.
Heart inflammation is also a symptom of many viral infections like COVID-19, though, and the likelihood of developing the inflammation after infection is much higher than it is after vaccination.
Read more: Vaccines Update: No Covid-19 Vaccine Doesn’t Stay in Your Body For Years
Sweden has extended a pause of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine in people under age 30 beyond the original December 1 date to an unknown date.
This follows a series of cases involving young males under [age] 20 who are up to six times more likely to develop myocarditis after contracting COVID-19 than those who have been vaccinated.
Dr. Tom Shimabukuro said there is an increased risk of myocarditis and pericarditis with either the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine, in particular after the second dose of the vaccines.
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According to the Daily Mail, the data indicated the risk was 13 times greater for those getting the Moderna vaccine than for those who got the Pfizer vaccine.
Sweden paused usage of the Moderna COVID-19 shot in everyone born after 1990 earlier this month.
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This decision came after health officials viewed data that found the shots were causing cases of myocarditis in young people who got the vaccine.
Sweden’s Public Health Agency says that the unpublished data signals “an increased risk of side effects such as inflammation of the heart muscle or the pericardium” – the double-walled sac containing the heart and the roots of the main vessels.
It added: “The risk of being affected is very small.” However, that data is still not publicly available.
Read more: Vaccine Error! Research About Heart Inflammation Was Miscalculated
For every one million doses of the Moderna shot administered, there are 13.3 more cases of myocarditis detected compared to every one million of the Pfizer jab.
A Moderna spokesperson said in an email last week that the company was aware of the decisions by regulators in Denmark and Sweden to pause the use of its vaccine in younger individuals because of the rare risk of myocarditis and or pericarditis.
“These are typically mild cases and individuals tend to recover within a short time following standard treatment and rest,” they said. “The risk of myocarditis is substantially increased for those who contract COVID-19, and vaccination is the best way to protect against this.”
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