Moderna said Nov. 11 its COVID-19 vaccine protects against breakthrough cases better than Pfizer's inoculation, a benefit it said outweighs its higher risk of myocarditis among young men, CNBC reported.
Four things to know:
- On Oct. 31, Moderna said the FDA needs more time to review its COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 12 to 17 as the agency analyzes the risk of myocarditis following inoculation. The FDA informed Moderna that the review might not be completed before January.
- Reported myocarditis cases in men younger than 30 are relatively higher for people who received Moderna's vaccine than they are for Pfizer's vaccine, according to Paul Burton, MD, PhD, Moderna's chief medical officer. He cited data from France on males ages 12 to 29 that showed 13.3 cases of myocarditis per 100,000 people for Moderna’s vaccine and 2.7 cases per 100,000 people for Pfizer's.
- Moderna said its vaccine offered better protection against hospitalization and death than Pfizer's. The drugmaker referenced a CDC study that showed 86 breakthrough cases per 100,000 people for Moderna's vaccine compared with 135 breakthrough cases per 100,000 people for Pfizer’s.
- "While I think health authorities are carefully assessing the data, being appropriately cautious, you can see that they continue to recommend the use of the mRNA-1273 Moderna vaccine,” Dr. Burton said. "We believe that the balance of benefit and risk is extremely positive."