Sweden’s Public Health Agency recommended suspending administration of the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine to individuals aged 30 years old and younger this week.
The agency said Wednesday it was a temporary measure due to concerns about the vaccine increasing risk of heart inflammation. Authorities will wait until more data is available on the risk of developing pericarditis or myocarditis from the shot before making a final decision.
Vaccinationer med Nuvaxovid pausas för personer 30 år och yngrehttps://t.co/hfhQzU0Vj2
— Folkhälsomyndigheten (@Folkhalsomynd) November 2, 2022
Sweden’s health authorities also recommended that the vaccine come with a warning about increased risks of heart inflammation. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) added such a warning to the shot when it was authorized for use in the United States earlier this year.
The Public Health Agency recommended young people substitute the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine in place of Novavax while it waits for more data to come in. However, there are also risks of developing heart inflammation issues from Pfizer’s offering, according to the FDA. (RELATED: Countries That Pursued ‘Zero-COVID’ Lockdowns Have The Least Immunity From The Virus, Report Finds)
Sweden has consistently taken a more cautious approach to vaccine approval than the United States throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, including by recommending against the shots for kids below age 12 while the United States was moving forward for that demographic, according to Reuters. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently added the COVID-19 vaccines to the routine childhood immunization schedule, which may pave the way for the vaccine to become mandated for school attendance in a number of jurisdictions.