Moderna likely to present COVID-19 vaccine trial data for kids aged 2-5 in March

Moderna on Wednesday, January 12 announced that it will soon present the data related to the efficacy of its COVID-19 vaccines among the children aged 2 to 5 by  March. According to several reports, the pharmaceutical firm has been evaluating the effectiveness of the booster shot currently for the kids aged 12-17 but will conduct trials for the children aged younger. The announcement comes as the US continues to witness a spike in the COVID-19 hospitalisations among the children, and Moderna seeks to get approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the months to follow to expand the availability. 

Currently, across the US, only Pfizer’s vaccine has been authorised for kids aged 5 to 11. Moderna announced that it is also evaluating the booster shot for the Children between the age group of 2 to 5. “If the data is supportive and subject to regulatory consultation, Moderna may proceed with regulatory filings for children 2-5 years of age thereafter,” the company’s statement accessed by news agencies read on Wednesday. Moderna’s mRNA jabs are already approved across Europe, UK, Australia, and Canada for children aged between 12 and 17 and the company has sought approval for the lower age groups. 

Vaccines can 'provide a layer of protection for kids': Moderna principal investigator 

If the vaccines are available for children as young as 5 years old, it can provide a layer of protection for kids on campus, Dr. William Hartman, the principal investigator of one of the Moderna paediatric COVID-19 vaccine trials, told the Los Angeles Times. The emergency use authorization for children 6 months to 5 years old for the Moderna vaccine could be granted in late March or early April, he added. The latter runs the Hartman Laboratory at the University of Wisconsin and speculated that the trial results are expected as early as next month.

This comes after Pfizer announced that its vaccine dose, one-tenth of the adult dose, did not produce a potent immune response among the children in that particular age group. But later Pfizer said that a two-shot regimen provided protection equivalent to one shot protection seen in adults. In data posted to CDC’s COVID data tracker, the rate of COVID 19 hospitalisations among the unvaccinated children was about 11 times higher than fully vaccinated kids in the same age range. " For those children who are eligible, I strongly encourage their parents to get them vaccinated," the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Benjamin Haynes said at a briefing.