Children as young as 12 have an elevated risk of heart inflammation after receiving Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine, according to a new study.
Researchers with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other institutions analyzed data from the FDA’s Biologics Effectiveness and Safety (BEST) Initiative and looked for safety signals after Pfizer vaccination for children aged 5 to 17 between 2021 and mid-2022.
They found that myocarditis, a form of heart inflammation, and pericarditis, a related condition, met the threshold for a safety signal for children aged 12 to 17 after dose 2 and dose 3.
Pfizer’s vaccine is administered in a two-dose primary series. Booster doses are recommended for virtually all Americans above 4 years old because the protection from the vaccines quickly wanes against newer virus variants….