Second Covid jab for kids one step closer

AUSSIE kids aged six to 11 could soon have access to two Covid vaccines.

Moderna is due to provide new safety and efficacy data about its paediatric vaccine to the Therapeutic Goods Administration on Monday.

It comes as the Andrews government continues to plan how it will allow for the school year to begin while Omicron case loads continue to surge.

Victoria on Sunday recorded 28,128 new Covid-19 cases and 13 more deaths.

There were a record 1114 people in hospital with the virus, of whom 122 were in intensive care and 35 people were being ventilated.

Health Minister Greg Hunt said he was “hopeful” the jab, which would provide another option for parents, would be approved. “We are expecting new information imminently,” Mr Hunt said.

“They are due to provide that to the European Medicines Agency and the Australian TGA simultaneously on the 17th (January).”

Mr Hunt said he had spoken to Moderna’s Australian chief executive twice in recent days about the jabs.

“They are very focused on bringing this forward and the TGA will do a priority assessment, but an independent assessment,” he said.

Moderna’s trials have previously shown children aged six to 11 had a strong immune response when they received half of the adult dose, one month apart.

Pfizer’s paediatric jab is a third of the adult dose and has an eight week interval between first and second shots.

More than 300,000 children aged five to 11 nationwide have so far had a shot in the arm since Pfizer became available last Monday.

Questions have been raised about supply, with a spate of appointments cancelled and some primary care providers raising concerns they have not been allocated enough vaccines to meet demand.

But Mr Hunt reiterated “there is enough out there” and encouraged people to keep coming forward.

He said 1.2 million doses were already in fridges, adding that this would rise to almost two million doses by the end of this week.

“We’ll be working with GPs and pharmacists and the states to ensure that they have specialised clinics for children just to provide that additional access.”

News Corp revealed earlier this month that the federal government had urged Pfizer and Moderna to submit an application for their Covid booster shots to be given to people aged under 18.

The TGA is already considering preliminary data about the Pfizer booster shot for people aged 16-17, which will also be assessed by the expert immunisation panel.