New York.– For the past 10 months, while tens of millions of children and adolescents have received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, the companies’ main rival, Moderna, has stood by, with its vaccine limited to adults.
But Moderna may now be poised for a comeback at a critical time in the nation’s vaccination campaign. The company is expected to send federal officials initial data this week on how well its coronavirus vaccine works for younger children.
About 18 million children under the age of 5 are the only Americans not yet eligible for vaccination. And while acceptance by older children has been slow, many parents still eagerly await the opportunity to protect their infants, toddlers, and preschoolers.
Moderna is going toe-to-toe with Pfizer-BioNTech for the opportunity to vaccinate this group, hoping to have found what some scientists call the “Goldilocks” dose: strong enough to offer long-lasting protection, but not strong enough to cause widespread illness or worrying side effects, such as a high fever.
Moderna has opted for a two-dose regimen with a quarter of the adult dose for children under 6 years of age. Pfizer is expected to apply next month for a three-shot regimen for children under 5, with doses one-tenth of those for people 12 and older.
Moderna is also expected to soon publish data from its clinical trial in the following age group: children ages 6 to 11.
Dr. Yvonne Maldonado, a Stanford professor of pediatric infectious diseases and principal investigator at the Stanford site of Pfizer’s pediatric vaccine trials, said new data from Moderna and BioNTech in the coming weeks will offer critical insights into the effectiveness of their vaccines. pediatric vaccines. She said researchers are watching closely to see if stronger doses of Moderna “result in more robust immune responses” than Pfizer injections have elicited in young children.
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