Do young children need COVID-19 vaccine?

While it is true that most children are relatively unaffected by coronavirus and are unlikely to become unwell with the infection, “it is important to establish the safety and immune response to the vaccine in children and young people as some children may benefit from vaccination,” said Andrew Pollard, PhD of the chief investigator for the trial and a professor of pediatric infection and immunity at Oxford, said in a statement.

Why does the vaccine need to be tested on children?

Although there isn’t much difference between a teen and a young adult, different vaccine doses are sometimes needed to achieve a similar safety profile and immune response in children as in adults. This is especially true in the case of toddlers and infants whose immune systems haven’t fully developed yet.

Is this a safe process?

The vaccines being tested on children are the same vaccine – at the same dose and at the same intervals – as the ones that have cleared adult trials and proven safe for use.

How are the tests being conducted?

The sample sizes in all the pediatric trials are much smaller than those of the adult trials. The samples are also likely to be less diverse as compared to the adult trials, as the latter did not show any correlation between factors like race, ethnicity, gender, and the effectiveness of the vaccine.

Who is eligible to volunteer?

Should have never tested positive for COVID-19 Should be in good health Shouldn’t have traveled outside of the United States in the past month Shouldn’t have participated in another trial in the past month Shouldn’t be a current smoker or have a history of smoking In the case of other pediatric trials conducted before, the participants were also required to be between the ages of 12 and 17

Will there be clinical trials for children in India?

Bharat Biotech, the producers of the indigenous Covaxin has been given permission to conduct clinical vaccine trials on children between the ages of 12 and 18, and is likely to start doing so by the end of February, or early March, in Nagpur, reported India Today.

When will vaccines be available for children?

The results of Moderna’s previous study on children above the age of 12 are yet to be declared. Depending on how the clinical trials go, COVID vaccines for children and teens are expected to roll out as early as in the summer, or mid-2022. (This article was first published on FIT and has been republished with permission.)

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Moderna Starts Vaccine Trials in Children: What Does This Mean?

Why is this trial important? When will children start getting the vaccine? FIT breaks it down for you.

FIT

Updated: 18 Mar 2021, 10:16 AM IST

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Moderna, on Tuesday, 16 March, announced it has begun testing its COVID vaccine in young children between the ages of 6 months and 12 years, in the US and Canada.

This comes nearly a month after Moderna, along with Pfizer in the US, and Oxford University in the UK had announced they were kicking off pediatric clinical trials in older children between the ages of 12 and 17.

What does this mean? Why is this trial important? When will children start getting the vaccine? FIT breaks it down for you.

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Topics: COVID-19 FAQ coronavirus FAQ

Published: 17 Mar 2021, 6:45 PM IST