Moderna, one of the biotechnology firms that pioneered the search for a vaccine against COVID-19, has embarked on trials to find a vaccine against the virus for children aged between 6 months and 12 years.
The American biotech firm said in a statement that the first participants of the trial, dubbed the Kidcove study, already received a dose of the trial vaccine.
The company further said it intends to enroll approximately 6,750 children in the United States and Canada to participate in the trials, with each participant in the first part of the trial receiving up to three dose levels of the trial vaccine.
Stéphane Bancel, Chief Executive Officer of Moderna said the study will help Moderna assess the potential safety and immune response of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate in children.
The participants will be followed through 12 months after the second vaccination.
Moderna is conducting the study in collaboration with the U.S. Government’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).
The Moderna vaccine was first approved for emergency use in adults by the U.S. Food and Drugs Administration In December 2020.
According to The World Health Organization (WHO), the vaccine has been shown to have an efficacy of approximately 92 percent in protecting against COVID-19, starting 14 days after the first dose.
So far, 17.8 million adults in the U.S. have received the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to date.
