Pfizer is starting the first clinical trials of its Covid-19 vaccine in children under the age of twelve. The first participants in the trial, two nine-year-old twin girls, were vaccinated on Wednesday at Duke University in North Carolina.
For several weeks, some laboratories have been starting clinical trials of their serum against Covid-19 on the youngest. Moderna, for example, now focuses on children from six months to twelve years old in the United States. The company has already tested its vaccine in children over the age of twelve. Moreover, the results are expected in the coming weeks.
AstraZeneca also began its first trials in children six months and older last month. As for Johnson &Johnson, the company plans to extend these tests to younger people after evaluating its performance in those over the age of twelve.
Now it's Pfizer's turn to turn to the younger generation. The researchers will test three doses of the vaccine (ten, twenty and thirty micrograms) in 144 participants . Each dose will be evaluated first in children aged five to eleven, then in children aged two to four, and finally in the youngest age group (six months to two years).
After determining the most effective dose, the company will test its vaccine on another 4,500 children . Two-thirds of these participants will be randomly selected to receive two doses of the serum 21 days apart. The rest will receive two placebo injections of saline solution. The researchers will assess the children's immune response in blood drawn seven days after the second dose.
Children often react more strongly to vaccines than adults, so possible side effects will be carefully monitored .
The results of the trial are expected in the second half of the year. According to Sharon Castillo, spokesperson for the pharmaceutical company, Pfizer hopes to vaccinate young children in early 2022 next.
To date, more than 3.3 million children have tested positive for Covid-19 in the United States (13% of all cases reported across the Atlantic). Of this sample, at least 13,000 were hospitalized and at least260 have died according to Dr. Yvonne Maldonado representing the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Researchers also estimate that 80% of the US population may need to be vaccinated for the country to achieve herd immunity. However, children under the age of eighteen represent approximately 23% of the population in the United States.
So even though a large majority of adults turn to vaccines, "herd immunity might be hard to achieve without children being vaccinated “, emphasizes Dr. Emily Erbelding. Infectious disease specialist at the National Institutes of Health who oversees testing of Covid-19 vaccines on American children. Still according to the expert, "this vaccination campaign will allow schools to reopen and help end the pandemic “.
