Day 621: Spikevax Spiked Some More

There's been some snide "fact checking" in the mainstream media over hasty alt-press reports that Sweden had banned Moderna's vaccine outright rather than just for young adults [under 30]. On the other hand, Iceland has abandoned Spikevax altogether as of last Friday. The following is a slightly corrected Google translation of that link. Note the Epidemiologist's comments on neighboring countries' policies.

Use of the COVID-19 vaccine Moderna in Iceland

In recent days, there has been data from the Nordic countries on the increased incidence of myocarditis and pericarditis after vaccination with Moderna vaccine in addition to [sic] vaccination with Pfizer/BioNTech (Comirnaty).

In Sweden, the use of Moderna has been restricted to individuals born before 1991. In Norway and Denmark, it has been emphasized that Pfizer vaccines are recommended rather than Moderna vaccines for 12–17 year olds.

In Iceland, only the Pfizer vaccine has been recommended for primary vaccination at 12–17 years of age since vaccination of this age group began.

For the past two months, Moderna vaccines have been used almost exclusively for booster vaccinations after the Janssen vaccine and after two-dose vaccinations for the elderly and immunocompromised. Very few individuals have received the second dose of primary vaccination, which started with Moderna.

As there is a sufficient supply of Pfizer vaccine in Iceland for both the pre-vaccine activation vaccines and the primary vaccinations of those who have not yet been vaccinated, the Epidemiologist has decided not to use the Moderna vaccine in Iceland, while providing further information on the safety of the Moderna vaccine vaccine.

—Epidemiologist

There's a bit more information about the history of Moderna in Iceland in this alt-press article.

Domestically, the FDA dissed Moderna this week, as the advisory panel punted on their boosters (as well as Johnson & Johnson's), due to concerns about insufficiently increased efficacy:

Moderna said the mean antibody level of participants in its study was 1.8 times higher after the booster than it was after the second shot. In another measurement, the booster raised neutralizing antibodies at least fourfold in 87.9 percent of people compared to after the second dose, thus narrowly failing to meet the agency’s requirement of 88.4 percent.

The EMA also has yet to rule on Moderna boosters. To some extent Moderna is suffering from its greater initial efficacy, which may be due to their higher dose (the booster is proposed to be only half-strength) or the longer delay between initial shots, or both.

It's not recommended to boost with a different vaccine than initially administered (e.g., Pfizer's approved Comirnaty booster) even though there have been some reports that varying the vaccine administered increases overall efficacy. So the Spikevaxxed are out of luck unless they fall under the exemption for the immunocompromised. Nevertheless, the New York Times estimates that 1.5 million of the Spikevaxxed have gotten boosted (with a full dose) by hook or by crook. (PlagueBlog does not recommend illicit boosting.)

While normally the FDA would be ruling in line with the advisory panel's decision come Thursday, the New York Times has some frightening things to report about the temptation "to reach 'a harmonized approach' for all three vaccines and to simplify booster recommendations for the general population." PlagueBlog does not recommend purely political boosters.

P.S. Massachusetts cases were up a fifth of a percentage point today.