COVID Vaccine for Infants Deemed Safe in Trials, Says Moderna

Moderna said it is now pursuing a regulatory approval for its COVID vaccine for children aged 6 months to 6 years

Moderna said it is now pursuing a regulatory approval for its COVID vaccine for infants.

(Photo: The Quint)

US biotech firm Moderna said in a statement on Wednesday, 23 March, that its two-dose vaccine regime in children aged six months to six years was deemed safe and produced a strong immune response, reported AFP.

It added that it is now pursuing a regulatory approval for its COVID vaccine for infants.

Moderna said it will submit authorisation requests to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), European Medicines Agency (EMA) and other global regulators in the coming weeks.

CEO Stephane Bancel said,

“We now have clinical data on the performance of our vaccine from infants six months of age through older adults."

Vaccine Efficacy

The company said that two doses of 25mg given to children in this age group generated similar levels of antibodies to two doses of 100mg in young people aged 18-25, indicating similar levels of protection.

However, Moderna clarified that the trials found relatively low vaccine efficacy against infection, which was conducted during the Omicron wave.

Vaccine efficacy in the age group six months to two years was 43.7 percent, while 37.5 percent vaccine efficacy was recorded in the two to under six years age group.

Moderna said that the company was evaluating a third dose to lift efficacy levels.

(With inputs from AFP.)