Health officials in Germany are warning young people not to get the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine due to the risk of rare heart inflammation.
The German Standing Committee on Vaccination (STIKO) said on Wednesday that people under age 30 who receive the Moderna jab are at an increased risk of developing myocarditis, and instead recommend opting for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
The same recommendation was made for pregnant women in Germany as well.
Data from the Paul Ehrlich Institute (PEI), a German medical regulator body, shows the increased risk of heart inflammation is more than doubled among Moderna recipients.
Germany is now the seventh European nation to take this type of action due to concerns about the jab's side effects in young adults.
Germany's advisory committee has recommended people under age 30 not get the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine (pictured), and instead opt for the Pfizer jab. Six other European nations have taken similar action in recent weeks
Concerns about the Moderna vaccine causing myocarditis, and particularly in young males, have been raised worldwide in recent weeks. Pictured: A boy in Kiel, Germany, received a shot of a COVID-19 vaccine on August 19, 2021
The PEI data found 11.71 out of every 100,000 men aged 29 or younger who receive the Moderna jab develop heart inflammation.
For comparison, less than half of that, 4.81 out of every 100,000 men that age, develop heart inflammation after receiving the Pfizer vaccine.
The recommendation by STIKO is not binding - and anyone who wants to can still receive the Moderna vaccine - but it carries enough weight in the nation to deter younger people from getting that shot.
Many European countries are beginning to lose confidence in the Moderna jab's safety in younger people.
Last month, Swedish health officials reviewed data finding the shot causes an increased risk of heart inflammation.
In response, they suspended use of the shot in anyone born after 1990.
The data from Sweden has not been published, but officials note the risk of heart inflammation from the Moderna shot is still very low.
The Swedish decision set off a chain across Scandinavia.
Denmark followed Sweden's lead shortly after, and stopped offering the jab to anyone under the age of 18.
Finland was next, with health officials in the Nordic nation deciding they would no longer offer the Moderna vaccine to males under the age of 30.
Iceland took the most drastic action, suspending all use of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine in the small island nation.
Norweigan and French officials also reviewed the same data, and agreed that younger people should receive
