Moderna Starts Testing COVID-19 Vaccine in Younger Children

TUESDAY, March 16, 2021 (HealthDay News) — Moderna has launched a study of its COVID-19 vaccine in children younger than 12 years, including babies as young as 6 months.

The company expects to enroll 6,750 healthy children in the United States and Canada, but Moderna spokeswoman Colleen Hussey did not reveal how many had already been signed up or received their first shots, The New York Times reported.

In another study, Moderna is testing its vaccine in 3,000 older children, ages 12 to 17 years, and may have results by summer. But even if the results are favorable, the vaccine would not be immediately available because it would have to be approved for use in children.

“There’s a huge demand to find out about vaccinating kids and what it does,” David Wohl, M.D., medical director of the vaccine clinic at the University of North Carolina, told The Times. He is not involved in the studies.

The New York Times Article