Moderna says its Covid-19 vaccine is safe and effective in teens

Moderna announced Tuesday that in a Phase 2/3 trial of 3,732 children ages 12 to 17 in the US, blood tests showed that its Covid-19 vaccine produced an immune response that was equivalent to prior findings in adults.

 

The trial wasn't designed to look specifically at efficacy. However, initial observations found that none of the children who received the vaccine got sick with Covid-19 starting 14 days after their second dose. Four of the children who received the placebo tested positive for Covid-19, which Moderna said is "consistent with a vaccine efficacy of 100%."

 

The company also reviewed how well the vaccine worked after just one dose. The results showed the vaccine was 93% effective after one dose at preventing mild cases of Covid-19; a mild case involved only one symptom of coronavirus disease instead of two or more symptoms.

 

Moderna said it plans to submit its results to the US Food and Drug Administration in early June to request authorization for its vaccine for this age group.

 

So far the rollout of Pfizer/BioNTech’s vaccine, recently authorized for children ages 12 to 15 in the United States, has been successful – with local health officials saying it has gone “better than expected.”

During the first week that eligibility to receive the Covid-19 vaccine expanded to include adolescents ages 12 to 15 in the US, that age group accounted for nearly a quarter of people to receive their first dose of vaccine, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This age group makes up only 5% of the total US population.