Category: Vaccine

Oct. 27Right as flu season begins, pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca announced it's seeking FDA approval for a nasal spray flu vaccine that could be administered by yourself from the comfort of your home.

If given the thumbs-up by the Food and Drug Administration, the drug could be ready to go up nostrils as soon as next year's flu season.

In a news release announcing the application, AstraZeneca vice president Iskra Reic said the vaccine would provide an "innovative, more accessible option for individuals, families and communities," and could "revolutionize flu vaccination."

Known as FluMist Quadrivalent, the technology behind the nasal spray flu vaccine is not new. It was first approved for use in the United States in 2003, and nearly 200 million doses have been administered across the globe. But before now, the spray had to be administered by a medical provider just like the shot form of the vaccine.

Based on a usability study conducted by the company, AstraZeneca now believes the spray can be self-administered "when given instructions for use without any additional guidance," according to the news release.

The drug is approved for use in those aged 2 to 49. It is commonly used in doctor's offices as an alternatives for children who are afraid of needles. A dose of the vaccine must be sprayed into each nostril.

Though side effects from the vaccine may not occur, the most common are a runny or stuffy nose, sore throat or a light fever.

The FDA must now decide whether the average person can be trusted to administer the vaccine to themselves. Based on its regulations, the FDA is expected to make a ruling on the nasal spray some time in the first four months of 2024.

If approved, the vaccine could be ordered online and shipped directly to homes.

Link:

Starting next year, you might be able to take your flu vaccine at home through your nose - Yahoo Finance

Moderna's (MRNA) stock has fallen off in the post-pandemic period as demand for its COVID-19 vaccine the company's primary commercial product decreased significantly. Pfizer (PFE) recently lowered guidance on declining vaccine revenue, which Moderna shares took a hit correlatively. Moderna shares face heavy volatility because its business is tied heavily to the COVID shot, however the vaccine maker is looking to introduce new products to stabilize growth.

Yahoo Finance's Health Reporter Anjalee Khemlani discusses the fall of Moderna post-COVID, giving insights on the company's plan to introduce new products moving forward.

For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Yahoo Finance Live.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

- Just days before Halloween, we are looking at stocks that have spooked investors of late. We're wrapping up the week with pharmaceutical and biotech company Moderna. Yahoo Finance's Anjalee Khemlani has the story. Anjalee.

ANJALEE KHEMLANI: That's right. The specter of pandemic profits is causing jitters among investors and their outlooks for companies like Moderna, whose outsized windfall from the pandemic has investors thirsting for more. Moderna is known to most as a company that makes one of a few COVID-19 vaccines. But what you may not know is that the vaccine is Moderna's single most commercially available product, which makes the stock extremely susceptible when demand for that slips.

Moderna peaked at nearly $450 per share in late 2021. And by comparison, it's been exsanguinated to about $75 per share today near late 2020 levels but not enough to be buried underground. BioNTech, which partnered with Pfizer to produce its COVID-19 vaccine, has been on a similar trajectory. But Pfizer itself hasn't necessarily enjoyed the same volatility since and during the pandemic.

It-- ironically, the spirit of Pfizer stock is the only one possessing Moderna and Pfizer's partner BioNTech as seen in recent weeks when Pfizer lowered its guidance to-- due to decreased vaccine sales. It was Moderna stock that took a hit. And it's now nearly $25-- 25%, sorry, down in the past month alone. So will Moderna's ghost haunt us only in the pandemic memory? Or will it come back to life with a new product, validating the hype around mRNA?

Moderna recently shared ambitions to launch 15 products across oncology, respiratory, rare, and latent diseases by 2028. And due to-- do investors need to see the improved products to believe it? That's the question that remains to be answered. And that being said, there is some optimism among analysts. Moderna does currently have 12 buy ratings, 10 holds, and 2 sells.

- Anjalee Khemlani, some excellent spooky wordplay there to talk about a very interesting stock to round out our Spooky Stock series. Thank you so much. Appreciate it.

See the article here:

Moderna stock decline: What it will take to get it moving higher again - Yahoo Finance

Men who have sex with men and others who are at high risk of mpox infection should get two doses of the Jynneos vaccine, even now that the recent public health emergency in the United States has passed, according to an independent panel of experts that advises the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on its vaccine decisions.

CDCs Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, voted unanimously on Wednesday to recommend that certain individuals ages 18 and older who are at high risk for getting mpox continue to get the vaccine as a routine part of their sexual health care. Previously, the CDC had recommended vaccination of high-risk individuals during the outbreak.

The recommendations now move to CDC Director Dr. Mandy Cohen, who must sign off.

More than 31,000 Americans were diagnosed with mpox in the 2022-2023 outbreak, including 55 who died, according to CDC data. Most of those who were infected were gay men.

According to the CDC, people at high risk for catching mpox include gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men, transgender and non-binary people who in the past six months have had at least one of the following: a new diagnosis of at least one sexually transmitted disease; more than one sex partner; sex at a commercial sex venue or in conjunction with a large public event in an area where mpox is spreading; sexual partners of people who have those risks; and people who plan to participate in any of the previous activities.

More than 2 million people in the United States are eligible for vaccination against mpox under the new recommendations, according to the CDC. To date, approximately 23% of this group has received the recommended two doses of Jynneos.

Bavarian Nordic, the manufacturer of the vaccine, says its preparing for a commercial launch of Jynneos in the United States in the first half of 2024.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com

Read more here:

CDC advisors vote to recommend routine use of the mpox vaccine to protect people at high risk of infection - Yahoo Life

(Reuters) - Pfizer and German partner BioNTech said on Thursday that their vaccine to prevent flu and COVID-19 generated a strong immune response against strains of the viruses in an early- to mid-stage trial.

The companies said they plan to start a late-stage trial in the coming months.

"This vaccine has the potential to lessen the impact of two respiratory diseases with a single injection and may simplify immunization practices," Annaliesa Anderson, Pfizer's head of vaccine research and development, said in a statement.

In the trial, the vaccine candidates were compared to a licensed influenza vaccine and the companies' updated COVID-19 vaccine given at the same visit.

The data from the trial showed that the flu-COVID vaccine demonstrated robust immune responses to influenza A, influenza B and SARS-CoV-2 strains, the companies said.

(This story has been refiled to fix syntax in the headline)

(Reporting by Manas Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza)

Originally posted here:

Pfizer, BioNtech say flu-COVID shot generates strong immune response in trial - Yahoo News

Pediatricians and parents are having difficulty accessing a new immunization used to prevent severe respiratory syncytial virus infections in infants.

The drug, called nirsevimab and sold under the brand name Beyfortus, was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in July. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention initially recommended that it be given to all infants who are less than 8 months old, and to children 8 to 19 months old who have an increased risk for severe R.S.V.

But the demand for nirsevimab has exceeded the supply right as R.S.V. season has started to pick up. On Monday, the C.D.C. issued an alert about the drugs limited availability and said doctors who currently have doses should prioritize babies who are at the highest risk for severe infections: those who are less than 6 months old and infants who are immunocompromised or have an underlying health condition, such as cystic fibrosis.

To many experts, these revised recommendations make sense, given the supply restrictions. The vast majority of the severe illness and hospitalization is in kids in the first six months of life, said Dr. Coleen Cunningham, the chair of pediatrics at the University of California Irvine and pediatrician in chief for Childrens Hospital of Orange County. Yes, theres still plenty of kids getting sick beyond six months, but theyre much less likely to become seriously ill, she said.

The shortage appears to be affecting both large hospitals and small health clinics. Whether a health care provider has nirsevimab in stock largely depends on when and how much they ordered, said Richard Hughes IV, a vaccine-law expert at the firm Epstein Becker Green.

If clinics and hospitals have not yet ordered the drug, it is unlikely that they will be able to offer it to patients this fall and winter, said Dr. Sean OLeary, the chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics committee on infectious diseases.

In an email to The New York Times, a spokesman for Sanofi, which developed and manufactures nirsevimab in partnership with AstraZeneca, said that the companies are working to accelerate additional supply and explore a number of actions to extend the manufacturing network.

If your child qualifies for the immunization under the C.D.C.s new guidance but your pediatrician doesnt have it, try calling other local clinics to see if they do.

You should also confirm that your insurer will pay for it. Dr. OLeary said that nirsevimab is included in the C.D.C.s Vaccines For Children program, which offers free immunizations to families who otherwise might not be able to afford them. But not all private insurers are currently covering the shot, which has a list price of $495.

The supply issues are most acute for the 100 milligram dose of the drug, which is given to babies weighing more than 10 pounds. There is currently more availability of a 50 milligram dose that is approved for smaller infants and will primarily be given to those born during this R.S.V. season, which runs from October through March.

When nirsevimab was approved, it was heralded as a major advancement for infant health. In the United States, R.S.V. is the top cause of hospitalization for babies less than a year old; it results in 58,000 to 80,000 hospitalizations and 100 to 300 deaths every year among children under 5.

The drug is what is known as a monoclonal antibody therapy. It works somewhat like a vaccine, providing protection against severe disease. But the protection lasts just a few months. Thats because instead of teaching the babys immune system to develop antibodies against the virus, the injection delivers those antibodies directly. But once the antibodies are gone, so is the protection.

Another monoclonal antibody therapy, palivizumab, was approved in 1998 to prevent severe R.S.V. It has historically been reserved for preterm infants who have some of the highest risk because the drug is expensive and must be injected monthly. With the shortage of nirsevimab, the C.D.C. is now recommending that high-risk infants between 8 and 19 months be given palivizumab instead. There is an exception for American Indian and Alaska Native children who live in remote areas and have limited access to health care; they should still be given nirsevimab, if available.

An alternative option also exists for expectant mothers: This summer, the F.D.A. approved an R.S.V. vaccine for people who are 32 to 36 weeks pregnant. The antibodies they develop in response to the vaccine are passed through the placenta to the fetus, so the infant is born with protection against R.S.V.

If you have a young child who does not meet the current C.D.C. guidelines for immunization, your pediatrician is your best resource. Contact them if your child has symptoms like severe coughing, wheezing or shortness of breath.

While the shortage can be frustrating for pediatricians and parents, some experts see it as a positive sign that demand for the immunization is so high. I think this is a reflection of success, Mr. Hughes said. We have this brand-new tool to protect infants, and weve waited so long to be able to do that.

Read more:

An R.S.V. Shot for Infants Is in Short Supply. Here's What to Know. - The New York Times

(Precision Vaccinations News)

Tuberculosis (TB) is not only the world's biggest infectious killer, but it also destroys families and livelihoods. Besides the fear of dying from the disease, in many communities, a diagnosis can sentence someone to social isolation, wroteLinda Geddes in an article published by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, on October 24, 2023.

While the Bacillus CalmetteGurin (BCG) vaccine provides significant protection against TB disease in infants and young children, new vaccines that block infection and prevent TB disease are urgently needed.

More than 100 years have passed since the first administration of the BCG vaccine; hopes are building that a vaccine that could protect all age groups against all types of TB may finally be in reach.

Fortunately, several TB vaccine candidates are now in late-stage clinical trials, raising hopes that an affordable and effective vaccine may soon be within reach.

Today's BCG vaccines are based on different attenuated strains ofM. bovis.

These BCG vaccines are recommended for newborns in countries with a high burden of TB.

TB vaccines are among the most widely used, reaching more than 80% of infantsin countries where the BCG vaccine is included in routine childhood immunisation programs.

In the United States, vaccinations with the TICE BCG version are limited and generally offered to children in areas experiencing community spreading of TB.

The U.S. CDCreported inMarch 2023 that TBcases increasedby 5% in 2022, with8,300 confirmedcases. In addition, about13 million people live withlatent TB infection in the U.S.

Recent data indicates TB rates are accelerating by double digits in certain Texasareas (Dallas,Hidalgo County,Houston,San Antonio)in 2023.

Gedde's full, unedited article is posted at this link.

View post:

New Tuberculosis Vaccines are Coming Precision Vaccinations ... - Precision Vaccinations

The risks of severe neonatal morbidity, neonatal death, and admission to the neonatal intensive care unit were all significantly lower during the first month of birth in infants whose mothers were vaccinated against Covid-19, and protection against the virus continued for up to six months after birth, according to a new study published Monday in JAMA Pediatrics.

We hypothesized that this might be because we know that severe Covid in pregnancy is associated with pregnancy complications and so by protecting the mom, you would expect that perhaps incidence would be at a lower risk for some of those severe outcomes, said Sarah Jorgensen, a researcher and pharmacist at the Institute of Medical Science at the University of Toronto and the first author on the study.

Jorgensen, who researches vaccines in pregnancy, added that it could also be because pregnant people who get vaccinated tend to have other characteristics that are related to better outcomes in infants, like coming from areas with higher levels of education and better socioeconomic factors.

This population-based cohort study observed 142,006 infants up to 6 months of age born to mothers who were either vaccinated or not during the first, second, or third trimester. Of those, 85,670 infants were exposed to one or more Covid-19 vaccine doses while in utero. Of note is that in this study, 60% of pregnant people were vaccinated. As a result, the researchers found that after one month, exposed infants were 14% less likely to experience severe neonatal morbidity, and they were also 53% less likely to die and 14% less likely to be admitted to the NICU.

This study adds to the body of research which shows that maternal vaccination, like with influenza, tetanus, diphtheria, and acellular pertussis (Tdap), and most recently RSV, leads to positive outcomes for mother and baby, according to an accompanying editorial.

It looks like more good news about the safety of Covid-19 vaccines, said Sonja Rasmussen, a pediatrician and professor of genetic medicine at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Now we have really strong data in a big study including a lot of women in the first trimester of pregnancy that shows that this vaccine is safe.

However, even though the data shows a positive trend in Ontario, Rasmussen, who was not a part of the study, explained that this might not be the case in the U.S. because of hesitancy and fears that the vaccine could cause birth defects, preterm labor, or spontaneous abortion. According to the editorial, based on the results of this study and similar ones before it, these fears are unfounded. Still, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that in April 2022, about 50% of pregnant women were vaccinated either before or during pregnancy and that number dropped to 46% in October 2022.

We need to continue to make sure that pregnant persons understand that this is a way that they can protect themselves, they can protect their babies from getting Covid-19 in the first few months of life, and that this is safe, said Rasmussen, who is also an expert on infections in pregnancy.

According to the editorial, the best way to encourage pregnant people to get vaccinated is for clinicians to have a strong relationship with their patients, because having a strong recommendation in combination with access to vaccines makes it more likely that a mother will get vaccinated.

People, I think, are reassured when they see these safety data. Physicians are reassured and Im hoping that patients will be reassured too and recognize the importance of protecting their baby by getting the Covid-19 vaccine, Rasmussen said.

Among the studys limitations, Jorgensen and her colleagues pointed out that they could not adjust for things that werent in the databases, such as body mass index, tobacco use, use of other medications, or breastfeeding, which could have had an impact on the study findings.

We did adjust for a lot of things, but there were some things that just werent available in our study, Jorgensen said.

In the future, Jorgensens team will look at these infants and children as they get older and look back when they turn 2 years old.

Well continue to do research on different outcomes, as well as following these kids as they get older, Jorgensen said. So far, the evidence has been reassuring both from our group here in Ontario as well as abroad.

Read the original:

Maternal Covid-19 vaccination offers infants immunity for up to 6 months - STAT

Brent Sexton, who cited a prior medical condition for his refusal to get the COVID-19 vaccine, took issue with Apple Studios' refusal of an offer to undergo daily testing for the virus instead of getting vaccinated.

Brent Sexton

Apple Studios might have discriminated against Brent Sexton when it pulled an offer for him to star in Manhunt after he refused the COVID-19 vaccine due to potential health complications, a judge has ruled.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Linfield declined Apples move to dismiss the lawsuit on free speech grounds, finding that the companys mandatory vaccination policy may have been unconstitutional. The order issued on Oct. 19 marks one of the few rulings advancing a lawsuit from an actor who took issue with a studios refusal to provide accommodations for refusing to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

There is a significant difference between the government using its police power to require vaccinations and a company implementing a policy that required vaccinations (without any alternative, and of its own volition) as a condition of employment, stated the order.

Sexton last year accepted a role to play Andrew Johnson in Manhunt, a miniseries following the governments search for John Wilkes Booth after Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. He was to be paid $85,000, plus incentives, per episode, with a seven-episode minimum, according to the complaint.

At the time, Apple didnt require employees at corporate headquarters or retail stores to get the vaccine, allowing them to get daily or weekly tests. Apple Studios, however, was among the majority of studios in Hollywood that implemented vaccine mandates for a productions main actors, as well as key crewmembers who work closely with them in the highest-risk areas of the set. Sextons deal on the show fell apart after he refused to get immunized, citing a prior health condition that his doctor said makes it dangerous for him to receive the vaccine. He sued after Apple refused to provide accommodations, arguing the companys vaccine policy is unconstitutional.

In his ruling, Linfield found that dismissal of the case is not warranted under Californias anti-SLAAP statute, which is intended to protect free speech against frivolous lawsuits. He noted that Sextons offer to star in Manhunt was withdrawn last year when the context of the pandemic was quite different compared to 2021.

In March 2022, it might not have been either necessary or reasonable for a company to implement (without any alternative and without a government requirement) a vaccinate-to-work policy, the judge wrote.

A key factor in advancing the lawsuit was Sextons medical condition preventing him from getting the vaccine, according to the order. Linfield said that whether the mandatory vaccine policy is an illegal violation of privacy as applied to the actor is a mixed question of law and fact.

In a letter accompanying Sextons request for medical accommodations, his doctor wrote that his medical recommendation is that it would be too dangerous for our patient to be vaccinated since it is a medical fact that two of the major side effects of Covid-19 vaccines are thrombocytopenia and blood clots. He added, The patient is already suffering from both issues, and any good doctor would agree that vaccinating him would indeed be a great risk to his life.

Additionally, Linfield stressed evidence from Sexton demonstrating that he likely would have been able to safely work on the set of the production had he undergone daily testing for COVID-19.

Defendant argues that Plaintiff would not have been able to adequately perform his performance duties in the historical role of President Andrew Johnson while wearing a mask, the order stated. The Court agrees and assumes that Plaintiff also agrees. Of course, this is a straw-man argument; no one is suggesting that Plaintiff, in the role of Andrew Johnson, should appear wearing a mask.

Apple didnt immediately respond to a request for comment.

Mandatory vaccine mandates led to numerous lawsuits from actors who were denied exemptions, including long-running General Hospital actor Ingo Rademacher and former 911 mainstay Rockmond Dunbar. Unlike Sexton, who cited a medical reason in refusing vaccine, Rademacher took issue with ABCs refusal to provide him a religious exemption. In June, his lawsuit was dismissed.

Continue reading here:

Judge Advances Lawsuit Against Apple Studios Over COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate - Hollywood Reporter

courier-journal.com wants to ensure the best experience for all of our readers, so we built our site to take advantage of the latest technology, making it faster and easier to use.

Unfortunately, your browser is not supported. Please download one of these browsers for the best experience on courier-journal.com

Continued here:

New covid vaccine may be harder to find despite promises. Here's why. - Courier Journal

The Covid vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna may be linked to a slight increase in the risk of stroke when administered along with a high-dose flu vaccine, according to a new analysis by the Food and Drug Administration.

The high-dose flu vaccine is usually given to older people, and the risk association is clearest in adults aged 85 and older. But that increase, if real, seems very small, and it is possible that the risk may stem from the flu vaccine alone.

A separate analysis by the agency points to a small increase in the incidence of seizures after Covid vaccinations in children ages 2 to 5. The papers were posted online last week, and have not yet been vetted for publication in a scientific journal. Experts in vaccine safety said the studies were well done.

Neither study is definitive, and even if these links were confirmed, the increases are so slight that the benefits of vaccination still far outweigh the risks, especially in older adults, experts said. Flu and Covid themselves both raise the risk of stroke.

Although the findings do not warrant a change to vaccine recommendations, they are suggestive enough to merit further study, the experts said.

Without these types of efforts, the absence of data, the absence of evidence, just leads to a lot of misperceptions, said Dr. Susan Cheng, a cardiologist and epidemiologist at the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars Sinai in Los Angeles.

The F.D.A. did not make the researchers available for interviews. In a statement, Cherie Duvall-Jones, a spokeswoman for the agency, said it was making this information known at this time through publication of this paper for transparency.

Both studies are based on observational data, which cannot identify cause and effect. The agency is planning to study the occurrence of seizures in children after vaccination using a more robust design, Ms. Duvall-Jones said.

Sometimes, similar small associations of increased risk are not confirmed upon further investigation, she added.

Administration of flu and Covid vaccines at the same time or with a single shot that combines both, once one becomes available is an increasingly popular strategy with health officials aiming to increase vaccine uptake and ease logistical burdens, said Marco Cavaleri, who heads the office of biological health threats and vaccines strategy at the European Medicines Agency.

Thats the way for the future, Dr. Cavaleri said. We, of course, need to be sure that indeed this is a good strategy also from a safety perspective.

Dr. Cavaleri said he was not yet convinced that the increase in stroke risk was real. Strokes and related health problems occur frequently among those aged 85 or older, he noted. We have to be extremely careful in not overinterpreting data before we get really large data sets, maybe from different regions, that could tell us exactly what is going on, he said.

Officials in the United States first noted a possible association about a year ago. At the time, data from the Vaccine Safety Datalink, a federal safety surveillance system, suggested that Americans aged 65 or older might be at increased risk of an ischemic stroke, which interrupts blood supply to the brain, within 21 days of receiving the Pfizer-BioNTech bivalent vaccine offered last fall.

But federal officials said in January that a deeper investigation suggested that a link was very unlikely, and that other surveillance systems, including those in other countries, had not found a connection.

In the new study, researchers at the F.D.A. and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services analyzed stroke risk among nearly 5.4 million Medicare beneficiaries aged 65 years or older. They looked at the health records of those who received a Covid bivalent shot either on its own or along with the flu vaccine between Aug. 31 and Nov. 6, 2022.

Their initial analysis found no statistically significant increases in stroke with the Covid vaccines administered by themselves. When federal researchers broke down the data by age, they found an increased risk of stroke among those who were 85 years or older who got the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, and in those who were 65 to 74 who got the Moderna vaccine.

The link was most consistent when the bivalent Covid shot was given at the same time as a high-dose flu vaccine or one containing an adjuvant, a chemical added to elicit a stronger immune response.

Those who received both Covid and flu vaccines saw a 20 percent increase in the risk of ischemic stroke with the Pfizer-BioNTech bivalent shot, and an increase of 35 percent in the risk of transient ischemic stroke after the Moderna bivalent shot. (The bivalent shots were replaced in September with new formulations.)

The researchers then looked more closely at the relationship between the flu vaccine and stroke in nearly 7 million Medicare participants who received a high-dose or adjuvanted flu vaccine. They found a small but statistically significant increase, of about 9 percent, in the risk of stroke after receiving the flu vaccine alone.

The results suggest that the high-dose flu vaccine itself may be responsible for the increase in strokes observed in the study, Daniel Salmon, director of the Institute for Vaccine Safety at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said.

The study found some odd patterns, however for example, an increased risk of some types of stroke with the flu vaccine in those ages 65 to 74 and those 85 or older, but not among those who were 75 to 84.

Thats the sort of thing that would make me wonder if there might be something weird going on in their data, because you would expect there to be more consistency, Dr. Salmon said.

Federal researchers also calculated a separate measure called attributable risk, or the increase in risk that can be attributed to the exposure. Except in those 85 or older, the attributable risk was roughly three additional cases of stroke for every 100,000 people vaccinated with the Covid vaccine.

The numbers are too small to warrant alarm, Dr. Salmon said, especially because the diseases themselves also carry a risk of stroke.

If I tell you that your risk of getting struck by lightning doubled, I wouldnt really sweat it, to be honest with you, because your risk of getting hit by lightning is pretty small, he said. Because the background rate is so small, a doubling of that risk isnt very much.

Experts also said they were not surprised or concerned by the findings regarding seizures among vaccinated children.

In that study, F.D.A. researchers looked at the incidence of 21 health outcomes in more than 4.1 million children after immunization with the original Covid-19 vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Novavax.

The researchers based their analysis on commercial claims in insurance databases, as well as vaccination data from local and state systems.

The analysis confirmed a previously observed risk of uncommon heart problems after the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid shots in children aged 12 to 17.

The study also detected a small rise in the incidence of seizures and convulsions after the Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech shots, but only among children aged 2 to 5.

A consistent trend in seizures across all age groups would have been more worrisome. But young children are prone to seizures when they have a high fever, Dr. Cheng said, and other vaccines that produce fevers are known to induce seizures in very young children.

We know that the Covid vaccines can cause a fever, so its not a terribly surprising finding if its true, Dr. Salmon said of the seizures.

Children are at much smaller risk of Covid than older adults, so many parents have opted not to vaccinate them. The low numbers make it challenging to study potential risks, experts noted.

I commend them for doing the work, Dr. Salmon said of the F.D.A.s research. I do wish they were done earlier, but its great that the studies are being done.

View original post here:

Covid Shots May Slightly Raise Stroke Risk in the Oldest Recipients - The New York Times