CDC Panel to Assess Cardiac Risk in Adolescents with COVID Vaccine – Times-Standard

Next week, a federal committee of health experts will work to vaccinate adolescents against COVID-19, although rarely, regarding reports of heart inflammation in some adolescents, teens and young adults after being shot. Consider possible changes in.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Immunization Implementation Advisory Board discusses whether young people at little risk of the disease itself should fire, and if so, lower doses or spacing out. Make them safer.

Dr. Monica Gandhi, an infectious disease specialist at the University of California, San Francisco, said she was waiting for her 13-year-old son to decide whether to receive it until the panel discussion was over. His second shot. “People are worried about it. I don’t want to dismiss this.”

The panel’s online meeting was scheduled for Friday, Rescheduled from Thursday to June 23-25 In compliance with the newly established June 16th Independence Day holiday.

The CDC admits that it is “rare,” but reports of myocarditis and pericarditis have increased, primarily in adolescent boys and young men 16 years and older, after vaccination with the mRNA vaccine produced by Pfizer and Moderna. I am. Inflammation of the heart muscle or inner layer usually occurs within a week, often after the second shot of two shots, with chest pain, shortness of breath, fast beating, flapping, or a throbbing heartbeat.

for now, CDC continues to recommend COVID-19 vaccination For everyone over the age of 12, “given the risk of COVID-19 illness and associated serious complications such as long-term health problems, hospitalization, and even death.”

Other health professionals agree locally, but they are paying attention to the debate.

“No doubt it’s pretty scary, and the good news is that it’s very rare,” said Dr. Sarah Cody, Health Officer of Santa Clara County. “We are always weighing one benefit against another. Even with these cases of myocarditis, I still believe that the benefits of vaccination far outweigh the risks. . “

Discussions occur at the subtle times of the vaccination campaign. Demand for shots has leveled off to the point where states such as California offer prizes to invite more people to be vaccinated, but health regulators have also seen shots of children under the age of 12. I am considering using it. Percentage of people over the age of 12 have been vaccinated at least once.

Case rates have plummeted since January, but many health professionals say that California and other states have abolished pandemic restrictions and masking rules, and children under the age of 12 have not yet been vaccinated. We are concerned that more dangerous variants of the virus will give us a foothold. Prepare to fully open in the fall.

There is no doubt that federal health officials’ hints that they are worried about the safety of vaccines that have only been granted an emergency use authorization under a quick safety review are already reluctant to be more vigilant about shots. ..

Rare blood clots were reported on May 6, primarily in women under the age of 50, after the CDC urged “suspension” of Johnson & Johnson’s one-shot vaccine use for 10 days. Survey by Kaiser Family Foundation We found that only 46% of Americans were confident in their safety, compared to 69% in Pfizer and Moderna.

According to Gandhi, there are several options for the CDC. As with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, the agency recommends a “pause” when giving shots to teens and young adults, or warns certain groups of additional risks and continues to use them. Can be allowed.

The CDC also reduces vaccine doses for children, increases time between shots, limits adolescents to only one of two shots, or makes them more vulnerable to COVID-19 health problems Vaccination can also be advised only to young people with a disease.

There were no deaths from vaccine-related heart inflammation, and most cases reportedly recovered rapidly, but Gandhi said the incidence appeared to be higher than the incidence of blood clots.

The CDC reported last month that 28 people were vaccinated with Johnson & Johnson, 22 were women, and 3 died. For every 1 million doses administered, the risk reached 12.4 in women aged 30-39 years. 9.4 cases of women aged 40-49 years. And three cases among older women and men of all ages.

By May, the CDC had received 789 reports of cardiac inflammation. Of these, 475 occurred under the age of 30, of which 226 were considered confirmed cases. Of the total of 475 patients, 15 were hospitalized, 3 were in the intensive care unit, 270 were discharged, and 180 of them recovered completely.

By age group, in the preliminary report of inflammation after the second dose, the rate per million doses ranged from 5 cases aged 25 to 39 years to 0.9 cases aged 65 years and over, all in health. It was within the expectations of the authorities. ..

However, the dose rate per million doses was much higher in younger people, 20.6 for 18-24 years, 35 for 16-17 years, and 22.4 for 12-15 years. The number of cases in these age groups was more than double the expected number. According to the CDC..

At a meeting last week on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Vaccine Advisory Board, Dr. Tom Shimabukuro, Deputy Director of the CDC’s Vaccination Safety Agency, said that more than half of inflammation reports were received by only 9% of people aged 12 to 24 years. Said there was a dose of the dose given.

Members of the panel commented on whether to require younger children to have longer and wider trials of the vaccine, and whether the small risks of adolescents and teens were justified. I have stated.

Dr. Paul Offit, a pediatrician at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, said, despite the low risk to children of polio today: This country since the 1970s. “

But others, such as Dr. Cody Meissner, a pediatric professor at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, cautioned.

“The question for me is at what stage we say we have enough knowledge to justify the widespread use of vaccines in adolescents and children,” Meissner said. “The first mission is to do no harm. I don’t know if it’s harmless.”