Biotechnology company Moderna on Tuesday, 25 May, announced that its COVID vaccine is “highly effective” in adolescents aged 12-17. In a statement, the company said that it had managed to successfully bridge the immune response of vaccination and that it planned to apply to the Food and Drug Administration in June for authorisation to use the vaccine among adolescents.
If approved, this would become the second COVID-19 vaccine available to adolescents in the US.
The company, through a study, found that the COVID-19 vaccine (mRNA-1273) in adolescents met its primary immunogenicity endpoint. The statement read that the vaccine showed no new or major safety problem in the clinical trials of adolescents aged between 12 and 17.
The company in its study vaccinated more than 3,700 12 to 17-year-olds and found that the vaccine triggered the same signs of immune protection and temporary side effects such as headache and sore arm in children as it does in adults. The company also said the vaccine appeared to be 93 per cent effective two weeks after the first dose.
After Pfizer, Moderna would be the second COVID vaccine authorised for use in US in teenagers.
“We are encouraged that mRNA-1273 was highly effective at preventing COVID-19 in adolescents. It is particularly exciting to see that the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine can prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection.”Stephane Bancel, Chief Executive Officer, Moderna
More About the Moderna COVID-19
Formally called mRNA-1273, the Moderna vaccine is made using a process similar to that of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. Both Pfizer and Moderna have begun testing in even younger children, from age 11 down to 6-month-old babies. Moderna COVID-19 vaccine has undergone the review of the European Medicines Agency and it meets WHO’s criteria for safety and efficacy and is authorized to be used across the European Union.
Read Moderna's Full Statement Here
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