Moderna reports COVID-19 vaccine for children under 6 coming soon
WINDOW ROCK
Moderna announced on Wednesday COVID-19 vaccine trials in children ages of 6 months to under 6 years old have been successful could soon result in a vaccine.
Stéphane Bancel, CEO for the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company, said, “We believe the latest results from the KidCOVE study are good news for parents.”
Navajo Times | Donovan Quintero
Vaccine maker Moderna announced Wednesday its two-dose COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 0 to under 6 years old could be developed by spring.
The company stated it would submit an emergency-use authorization request to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for children ages 6 to 11. Currently, the Moderna vaccine is approved for children in this age group in Europe, Canada, and Australia.
Moderna reported approximately 6,700 children in the U.S. and Canada participated in the trial, which has completed two of the three-phase clinical trials.
Moderna indicated that if clinical trials continue to be successful, a two-dose vaccine could be developed by spring.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Omicron variant was responsible for hospitalizing children between 0 and 4 years old at about five times the rate of the Delta variant.
Moderna suggests its vaccine is more than 43% effective for children ages 6 months to 2 years old and more than 37% effective in children ages 2 to under 6.
The Pfizer vaccine trial has shown its vaccine was effective in children ages 6 months to 2 years old but not in children ages 2 to 5.
As of March 18, the Indian Health Service reported more than 420,000 COVID vaccine doses have been distributed on the Navajo Nation, with more than 376,000 doses administered.
On Wednesday, the Navajo Department of Health reported a total of 52,843 COVID cases across the Nation, with 1,660 deaths.
More than 6 million people globally have lost their lives to the novel coronavirus, with 474 million cases. The U.S. leads with almost 80 million cases and 973,000 deaths.
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