Moderna reported Monday that a reduced dose of its COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective for children between the ages of 6 and 11, at a time when the drugmaker is trying, like its rival Pfizer, to extend vaccination to minors. .
Children’s doses of Pfizer’s vaccine are closer to being administered to a larger population in the United States. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is currently evaluating their use for children ages 5 to 11, and they could be available by early November. The pharmacist’s vaccine is already licensed for people 12 years of age and older.
Moderna has not yet received authorization to administer its vaccine to adolescents, but is conducting lower-dose studies in younger children while awaiting approval.
The researchers tested two vaccines for children ages 6 to 11, administered one month apart, with half the dose that adults receive. Preliminary results show that vaccinated children developed antibodies at levels similar to those produced by young adults after completing their vaccination schedule, Moderna reported in a press release.
The study included 4,753 children ages 6 to 11 who received either the vaccine or a placebo. Moderna said that, like adults, the vaccinated minors had temporary side effects such as fatigue, headache, fever and pain at the injection site.
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