Moderna Official: Risk of Myocarditis Five Times Higher Than Pfizer... "Breakthrough Infections Are Fewer"

Possibility of Male Hormone Affecting mRNA Dosage

Moderna vaccine and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Seohyun] The risk of myocarditis in men who received the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine was found to be five times higher than that of Pfizer. A Moderna representative stated that the cause is still being investigated, but claimed that breakthrough infection cases are fewer.

According to CNBC on the 11th (local time), Paul Burton, Moderna's Chief Medical Officer (CMO), revealed that the number of rare side effect cases of myocarditis among men under 30 was higher with the Moderna vaccine compared to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

According to statistics from France cited by Burton, among men aged 12 to 29, 13.3 cases of myocarditis occurred per 100,000 Moderna vaccine recipients. In contrast, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine recorded 2.7 cases per 100,000.

In Europe, Moderna's vaccine has been approved for adolescent vaccination since July, but Nordic countries such as Finland and Sweden have suspended vaccination for men under 30 due to the risk of myocarditis.

Regarding the relatively higher risk of myocarditis with the Moderna vaccine, some have suggested that hormones like testosterone may be a cause. Additionally, the fact that the Moderna vaccine contains a larger amount of messenger RNA (mRNA) than the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has also been pointed out as a possible factor.

Meanwhile, Burton stated that there have been no reported cases of myocarditis among booster shot recipients who received half the dose compared to the initial vaccination, and that the company plans to continue monitoring the situation.

He also emphasized, citing statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), that the rate of breakthrough COVID-19 infections among Moderna vaccine recipients is lower than that of Pfizer-BioNTech or Janssen, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson.

Moderna announced that it will sell COVID-19 vaccines to the African Union (AU) at $7 per dose (single injection). This price is significantly lower than the $25 to $37 range previously proposed by Moderna executives. According to Bloomberg, Janssen exports vaccines to Africa at $10 per dose to the AU, while Pfizer-BioNTech sells at a slightly lower price than that.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.