CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (WBAP/KLIF News) – Moderna has began it’s COVID-19 vaccine trial for children between the ages of 6 months to 12 years old.
In a statement released Tuesday, the biotechnology company, said the first participants have been dosed in the Phase 2/3 study, called the KidCOVE study, of it’s vaccine called mRNA-1273.
Scientists are looking to see if Moderna’s vaccine can protect children from getting sick with the virus.
Moderna said the study will evaluate the safety, tolerability, reactogenicity and effectiveness of two doses of mRNA-1273 given 28 days apart.
The study will be conducted in two parts, one phase is an open-label, dose-escalation, age de-escalation. The second part is a random, placebo-controlled expansion study.
The children in the first phase will be given one of two dose levels depending on the age of the child. Some children in the second phase will be given either two Moderna vaccines or two placebos.
Scientists will monitor the participants for a year after receiving the second dose.
The company plans to enroll about 6,750 pediatric participants in the study.
It’s the result of a joint effort between Moderna and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the National Institutes of Health and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
“We are pleased to begin this Phase 2/3 study of mRNA-1273 in healthy children in the U.S. and Canada and we thank NIAID and BARDA for their collaboration,” said Stephane Bancel, Chief Executive Officer of Moderna. “It is humbling to know that 53 million doses have been administered to people in the U.S. We are encouraged by the primary analysis of the Phase 3 COVE study of mRNA-1273 in adults ages 18 and above and this pediatric study will help us assess the potential safety and immunogenicity of our COVID-19 vaccine candidate in this important younger age population.”
Click here for information about the trial and the process for enrolling participants.
Pfizer/BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine is being studied in children.
Johnson & Johnson has announced plants to study it’s vaccine in youth ages 12 to 18.
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