No more Moderna jab for children under 12 in Australia

The Australian government has quietly pulled Moderna’s (Spikevax) covid-19 vaccine for children under 12 years and won’t explain why.

This month, the Australian federal government updated its website to state that Moderna’s Spikevax is “no longer available” for children under 12.

It comes only three months after AstraZeneca’s covid vaccine was discontinued in Australia. 

The updated website was inconspicuous; there was no press release, no media coverage, and no ‘dear doctor’ letters.

So, what triggered the move?

A paediatric formulation of Moderna’s mRNA vaccine was provisionally approved for children aged 6 years and older in February 2022, and for children aged 6 months to 5 years in July 2022.

But this only compounded earlier concerns about the safety of mRNA vaccines. The trials were small and there were no long-term safety data.

Myocarditis had been linked to the mRNA vaccines in young males - particularly from Moderna - with some postulating it was due to the higher concentrations of mRNA in Moderna’s formulation.

It even prompted some governments, including Australia’s ATAGI to recommended extending the dosing interval from 4 weeks to 8 weeks, hoping to reduce the risk of myocarditis.

European countries like Denmark, Sweden, Germany, France, and Norway, took it one step further and decided to suspend the use of Moderna’s vaccine in young people because of safety concerns.

But is that why the Australian government says it’s “no longer being manufactured” and therefore, “no longer available for use” in children under 12?