Having received my full vaccination a few weeks ago, I feel relieved and more at ease in crowded settings. While I continue to wear a mask in public, I have noticed a gradual return to normalcy as more people are out and about. Despite this progress, it remains essential to safeguard children from COVID-19 by ensuring vaccine safety for them.
Recently, Moderna shared promising clinical findings suggesting that their COVID-19 vaccine, one of the key options alongside Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson, is safe for adolescents. Although the results are preliminary and awaiting peer review, they indicate progress in the right direction for potentially vaccinating kids aged 12-17 in the future.
Moderna vaccine “highly effective” in teens https://t.co/2w6gw9Uaq1
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) May 25, 2021
In the conducted trials involving 3,732 adolescents, blood tests demonstrated immune responses to the vaccine in all participants, resembling those seen in adults. While the primary focus was on safety rather than efficacy, it was noted that two weeks after the second dose, none of the participants displayed COVID-19 symptoms, unlike the control group receiving a placebo. The vaccine showed no significant adverse effects, with common minor side effects like headaches, fatigue, and arm soreness, aligning with standard expectations.
Moderna intends to subject these findings to peer review promptly and aims to seek authorization from the US FDA to administer the vaccine to teenagers in the coming month.