Covid jab for children under 5 on the cards

MODERNA has asked US regulators to authorise its Covid-19 vaccine for children under the age of 6, which would make it the first shot against the coronavirus available for under 5s.

The Covid-19 vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech is authorised for children 5 and older. But their trial results for 2- to 4-year-olds showed a weaker immune response than in adults, forcing the study to be extended to test a third dose. Moderna recently released data showing its vaccine was safe and generated a similar immune response in young children as for adults, which was the goal of the study.

The Omicron variant, which has been shown to be more likely to evade vaccine immunity than earlier versions, was predominant during the paediatric trial. The drugmaker said two doses were about 37% effective in preventing infections in 2- to 5-yearolds and 51% effective for children aged 6 months to 2 years.

Only 28% of US children in the 5 to 11 age group are fully vaccinated.