April 4th, 2022
Moderna revealed interim results from its clinical trials showing that its mRNA vaccine tested in children under 6 years of age produced similar (ie. excellent) immunity to that observed in young adults. With efficacy looking strong for the younger age group, Margaret Hartmann has more good news for parents eager to protect their youngsters from COVID-19:
The trial uncovered no new safety concerns. The majority of side effects among the 6,700 participants under 6 were mild or moderate. “No deaths, no myocarditis or pericarditis, and no multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) were reported,” the company said.
We learned during the winter that the three vaccines approved in the United States lost some effectiveness when the Omicron variant became the dominant strain in early January. Many who were fully vaccinated and even boosted became infected at higher rates than earlier in the pandemic, when other variants like Delta predominated. Fortunately, the vaccines remained highly effective in preventing most infected people from getting very sick and needing to be hospitalized. That same pattern — where infection is still possible after vaccination but serious disease and complications are not likely — was seen in Moderna’s study of the vaccine in young children:
The majority of COVID cases in the pediatric trial were mild, Moderna said, and there were no cases that resulted in “severe disease, hospitalization, or death.”
Though children infected with COVID typically become less severely ill than adults, more than 1,000 children under 18 have died over the course of the pandemic, including 350 children under 5, according to CDC data. COVID’s long-term effects on children are still unknown.
While Pfizer continues to study its own mRNA vaccine in young children, Moderna says it will submit a request “in the coming weeks” for FDA approval of its 2-dose vaccine in children between 6 months and 6 years of age. A vaccine proven to be safe and effective in infants, toddlers, and preschoolers will be good news for parents who are ready for their families to enjoy more normal times again.
There was other important news on the vaccine front regarding COVID vaccines that got the attention of older parents and grandparents last week. We’ll cover that news tomorrow on The PediaBlog.
