UW begins Moderna pediatric vaccine trial
Vaccinating children as young as 6 months of age against COVID-19 may become the new front in the global pandemic fight, if the vaccines prove to be safe and effective.
One such trial by the American pharmaceutical company Moderna will begin enrolling children 6 months through 11 years old on Friday at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. UW will be one of 75 to 100 sites in the U.S. and Canada for the trial, which has been named the KidCOVE study.
“One of the most important points is that the notion that COVID-19 doesn’t affect children is just not true,” said William Hartman, an assistant professor at UW who will help lead the Madison branch of the trial. “Over 4.2 million children have been infected with COVID. They certainly can contract it, get sick from it and pass it to others. More than 300 of the infected children have died of the disease.”
Still, children with COVID-19 have had a much higher survival rate than infected adults.
Hartman said vaccinating children against COVID-19 will be an important step toward “keeping the community safe.”
He said the vaccine will be the same one used with adults, “but the trial will help us determine the correct dosage for kids.”
The Moderna trial will be placebocontrolled, meaning that while some participants will receive the actual vaccine, others will receive a harmless placebo. Participants won’t know whether they are receiving the vaccine or the placebo.
Children enrolled in the trial will receive two doses or either the vaccine or placebo four weeks apart, then return for four follow-up appointments. The trial will divide the children into three age groups: 6 months to under 2 years; 2 years to under 6 years; and 6 years to less than 12 years.
For all groups, the trial will last 14 months. Participants must not have had COVID-19 or been exposed to someone with COVID-19 in the two weeks before they receive their first dose. All will undergo a medical examination and a review of medical records to ensure they are in good health.
Potential participants who have a chronic disease such as asthma or diabetes must have the illness under stable control at the time of the physical exam. Hartman will co-direct the UW branch of the trial with James Conway, a UW Health infectious disease doctor who is also a professor of pediatrics at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health.
Parents interested in enrolling a child in the study can go to www.kidcovestudy.com or call 608262-8300.