Covid-19: in France, the Moderna vaccine not recommended for children under 30

Published on : 11/09/2021 – 10:09

In France, the Haute Autorité de santé published, Monday, November 8, a notice in which she advises against the use of Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine for children under 30. It is based in particular on a study according to which this vaccine slightly increases the risk of inflammation of the heart for this population.

The study, carried out by the Epi-Phare structure, which associates the Health Insurance (Cnam) and the Medicines Agency (ANSM), focused on people between 12 and 50 years old, hospitalized in France for myocarditis or pericarditis between May 15 and August 31.

In all, 919 cases of myocarditis and 917 cases of pericarditis, inflammation of the heart, were studied. The first affects the myocardium, the main heart muscle, and the second the pericardium, the membrane that surrounds the heart.

Men under 30 more affected

As had been shown by pharmacovigilance reports, the results of the French study confirm that Pfizer and especially Moderna vaccines increase the risk of these diseases occurring within seven days after vaccination, and more often in men less 30 years old.

In view of these results, the Haute Autorité de santé (HAS) “recommends, for the population under the age of 30 and when it is available, the use of the Pfizer vaccine whether it is a primary vaccination or of the reminder “.

Conversely, it recommends that the Moderna vaccine, “whose vaccine efficacy appears to be slightly better, can be used as a primary vaccination course and for the administration of a half-dose booster dose in subjects over the age of 30. years”.

Pfizer’s recommended vaccine

On October 15, the French National Authority for Health recommended using exclusively the Pfizer / BioNtech vaccine for booster doses. “When we weigh the effectiveness of vaccines against severe forms of Covid-19 (estimated at around 90%) and the existing but infrequent risks of myocarditis and pericarditis, with favorable development, the benefit-risk ratio of vaccines is not called into question “, assured Monday Mahmoud Zureik, director of the structure Epi-Phare.

The HAS reiterates for its part the imperative to vaccinate as widely as possible. “The epidemic is currently marking a resumption of which it is difficult to predict the evolution, but the winter period which is starting together with the foreseeable drop in the effectiveness of vaccines in people vaccinated before the summer once again reminds us of the importance to obtain the best possible vaccine coverage for the entire population and in particular for people most likely to have a severe form of Covid-19, “insists the High Authority for Health.

It also considers it necessary to “maintain a high level of protection by the administration of a booster dose in the most fragile populations and the most exposed to the virus”.

A health defense council is held Tuesday morning in Paris. At 8 p.m., President Emmanuel Macron will address the French again to discuss the health crisis.

With AFP