German health authorities followed other European nations on Wednesday in advising against the use of Moderna’s Spikevax COVID-19 vaccine for people under the age of 30 after evidence emerged the shot has a slightly higher risk of cardiac inflammation.
A German advisory committee, known as STIKO, cited findings similar to a study published on Nov. 8 by France’s Epi-Phare, showing that vaccines using mRNA technology were associated with an increased risk of hospitalization for myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle), and pericarditis (inflammation of the tissue surrounding the heart), in younger patients—with a slightly higher prevalence in those who received Moderna.
