On Monday, drugmaker, Moderna Inc disclosed that a study of children aged 6 to 11 revealed that a smaller dosage of its Covid-19 vaccine is safe and generates a strong immune response.
The study showed that half the dosage given to adults, which is two 50-microgram doses of the vaccine, produced higher antibody levels than those seen in young adults.
In the company’s press release, citing early data from a phase 2/3 trial, it was discovered that in the children on which the study was conducted, the antibody levels were 1.5 times higher than those in young adults.
Why this matters
This development comes a day before an important FDA advisory committee meeting scheduled to discuss the advantages and otherwise of recommending the Pfizer and BioNTech’s vaccine for kids aged 5 to 11. Based on the resolutions reached in the meeting, the FDA could authorize the shots within days of the meeting, and as early as next week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention could authorize it.
Also, according to the company, the shots were generally well-tolerated in young kids, with the most common side effects ranging between fatigue, headache, fever, and injection-site pain. The vaccine was tested on more than 4,700 children.
The drug maker says plans are underway to submit the obtained data to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), European Medicines Agency and other health regulators in the “near term.”
Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel said in a statement, “We look forward to filing with regulators globally and remain committed to doing our part to help end the COVID-19 pandemic with a vaccine for adults and children of all ages”.
Officials at FDA have said that Pfizer’s vaccine appears highly effective at preventing symptomatic infections in elementary school-age children.
The reactions and responses towards vaccination of children has majorly been that of anxiety as many parents say they are anxious to get their children vaccinated as kids started the new school year with the delta variant still on a high side across America.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, the number of new Covid cases in kids over the past month remains exceptionally high, with more than 1.1 million child cases added in the past six weeks.