Moderna's Corona vaccine mRNA-1273, better known by its trade name Spikevax, is also safe for young children.

This is suggested by research published by the company on Wednesday.

In a phase 2/3 clinical trial, groups of 6 to 2 year olds and 2 to 6 year olds were vaccinated.

The young test persons showed robust immune responses in the form of neutralizing antibodies, as it was said, combined with a favorable safety profile.

Thiemo Heeg

Editor in Business.

  • Follow I follow

For the children, the dose was reduced to 25 micrograms.

This corresponds to a quarter of the adult dose.

Based on the new data, Moderna now intends to submit regulatory submissions for a two-dose series for younger children to the regulatory authorities in America and Europe, the FDA and the EMA.

There is currently no corona vaccine approved for children under the age of five in the EU.

"Good news for parents"

"We believe these latest results are good news for parents of children under the age of six," said Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel.

They want to continue to help end the corona pandemic with a vaccine for children of all ages.

The Kidcove study in the United States and Canada involved a total of 11,700 children, including 2,500 children aged two to two and 4,200 aged two to six.

The vaccine was well tolerated in the two youngest age groups, as well as in the older children (6 to 12 years), adolescents (12 to 17 years) and adults.

The majority of adverse events, such as fever, were reported to be mild or moderate and occurred more frequently after the second dose.

serious illnesses,

However, protection against infection with the corona virus was also relatively low.

The study took place during the spread of the highly contagious omicron variant.

According to this, the effectiveness of the vaccine for children between six months and two years was 43.7 percent, in the age group between two and six years 37.5 percent.

According to Moderna, these are similar values ​​to adults.

In an interview with the FAZ, Paul Burton tried to dispel doubts as to whether children under the age of six needed a corona vaccination at all.

Younger people are more severely affected by omicron and the even more contagious subvariant BA.2: “It is still a disease that affects children.

Having an effective vaccine for them is really important.”

Omicron vaccine under development

The company is in the process of adapting its vaccine to Omikron.

According to Burton, two corresponding vaccines are currently in development: one specific for the omicron variant and a bivalent one that combines the original vaccine with omicron and also protects against the delta variant.

Data on this is expected in May or early June.

Once approved, the vaccine could then be available in the fall or winter, Burton hinted.

In view of the discussion about easing, Burton warned against taking the topic of Corona lightly.

"I know there is a lot of vaccination fatigue, but now is not the time to let go of vigilance." People must continue to remain cautious, including with measures such as wearing a mask and keeping your distance: "This is a serious disease, we must not become careless. "