Pfizer Inc has received the approval to enroll participants as young as 12 years of age for its late-stage COVID-19 vaccine trial; to understand how it works in different age group.
Although severe COVID-19 symptoms are very rare in infected children, they can easily pass on the virus to high-risk groups such as the elderly. This is what makes finding the effectiveness of a potential vaccine in children more important, as the vaccines work differently in kids and adults. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted permission to the drugmaker to enroll younger participants. Last month, Pfizer increased its trial to about 44,000 participants, from up to 30,000, to include people as young as 16 and those with chronic, stable HIV, hepatitis C and hepatitis B.
The company said “we would enroll children in its study based on satisfactory safety data in older adolescents and young adults, but did not specify a timeline”. Pfizer is in a race to develop a safe and effective vaccine for the new coronavirus with rivals such as Moderna Inc, AstraZeneca Plc and Johnson & Johnson. Late-stage vaccine trials initiated by Moderna, J&J and Novavax Inc are being tested only in adults.
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