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REYKJAVÍK, Iceland (LifeSiteNews) – Iceland joined four other European countries taking action against Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine last week, citing new data on heart inflammation risks.
The Health Directorate of Iceland said in an announcement on Friday that health officials temporarily banned the vaccine in light of a Nordic study showing increased risks of myocarditis after the Moderna jab, particularly among young men.
“In recent days, there has been data from the Nordic countries on the increased incidence of myocarditis and pericarditis after vaccination with the Moderna vaccine, in addition to vaccination with Pfizer/BioNTech (Comirnaty),” the statement said.
According to the announcement, Iceland has mainly used Moderna’s Spikevax vaccine for booster shots for the elderly and the immunocompromised. The Pfizer shot is the only COVID so-called vaccine authorized for primary vaccination of 12-17-year-olds.
Due to “a sufficient supply” of the Pfizer vaccine, Iceland’s chief epidemiologist “has decided that the Moderna vaccine will not be used in Iceland while further information is obtained on the safety of the Moderna vaccine for booster vaccinations,” the Friday statement noted.
Iceland already has one of the world’s most vaccinated populations, with around 80 percent of the country having completed a full course of a COVID-19 vaccine, though the island’s COVID cases have still surged to record levels in recent weeks.
The study cited by Icelandic health officials, which has yet to be published, also prompted Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland to crack down on Spikevax last week.
Sweden and Finland both paused the vaccine for men under 30 years old, while Denmark did the same for individuals under 18. Norway has also recommended that those younger than 18 avoid the Moderna jab.
“New preliminary analyzes from Swedish and Nordic data sources indicate that the connection is especially clear when it comes to Moderna’s vaccine Spikevax, especially after the second dose,” the Public Health Agency of Sweden said Wednesday, adding that the heightened risk “is seen within four weeks after the vaccination, mainly within the first two weeks.”
“The results of the Nordic follow-up study are still preliminary and have been submitted to the European Medicines Agency (EMA),” the Finnish Health Nordic said in a statement the following day. “Preliminary results are expected to be completed during December.” Health agencies of Norway, Denmark, Finland, and Sweden conducted the new study, according to ABC News.
Like Iceland, all four countries nevertheless continue to push Pfizer’s COVID shot, despite well-demonstrated links to heart issues and other side effects associated with the experimental jab.
Earlier this year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) attached warnings to fact sheets for the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, indicating elevated risks of heart inflammation. The Centers of Disease Control (CDC) had revealed just days earlier that it had received more than 1,200 reports of myocarditis and pericarditis after vaccination with either of the two mRNA vaccines.
As of September, VAERS, a vaccine injury tracking system co-managed by the FDA and the CDC, has received 1,590 reports of heart inflammation among young people, though VAERS has been found to pick up less than 1 percent of adverse events related to vaccination.
Israeli experts in June similarly reported “a likelihood of a connection between receiving a second dose” of the Pfizer vaccine and the development of myocarditis in young men.