COVID-19 vaccine may be ready for teens this summer

Encouraging news about the COVID-19 vaccine continues to come.No unusual safety issues occurred during 13.8 million doses of Pfizer and Modana vaccines in the first month of vaccination The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, administered in the United States, reported February 19. Vaccines are also Delay the spread of coronavirus (((SN: 2/12/21).

However, the available data on the COVID-19 vaccine, and access to them, is almost entirely concentrated in adults. Most children are not yet allowed to receive shots. The exceptions are 16 and 17 years old. Last year, Pfizer extended adult trials to these teens.They were included in Pfizer Emergency Use Authorization In the United States, few people are actually vaccinated, because the group has not yet prioritized vaccination.Recommended by the World Health Organization Emergency use of this vaccine for 16 and 17 years old..

Work to bridge the data gap between children and the COVID-19 vaccine is currently gaining momentum.Pfizer is testing the vaccine Youth up to 12 years old.. Moderna is now 12-17 year old clinical trial..And on February 12, AstraZeneca announced the start of a jab trial. Children 6 to 17 years old..

“I’ll be optimistic in the summer,” said Emily Elberding, an infectious disease specialist who heads the National Microbiology and Infectious Diseases Department, when the COVID-19 vaccine will be available to adolescents in the United States. I am. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in Rockville, Maryland. The company is most likely a Pfizer vaccine, as it is the farthest in adolescent testing. Younger children spend more time waiting for the COVID-19 vaccine, and most trials in children under the age of 12 are not yet underway.

Overcome a pandemic

Proving that shots are safe and effective for children is an important first step in immunizing this population and protecting their children’s health. Serious illness due to COVID-19 is much less common in children than in adults, but children did not appear unharmed.is more than 3 million cases of COVID-19 have been reported in children In the United States, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.Black and Latin children The rate of SARS-CoV-2 infection is imbalanced, Researchers reported in Pediatrics October 2020.

There are more than 2,000 cases Pediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome, Or MIS-C (SN: 6/3/20), SARS-CoV-2 infection is a rare but serious complication.The· Take the brunt of these cases It was between blacks and Latin children. And the indirect harm caused by the pandemic is Disturbances in children’s education and social life Endanger their health.

In addition, vaccination of children is part of the way society survives the pandemic. The United States has about 73 million children. “Children need to be vaccinated to reach a level of herd immunity that can eliminate the virus,” said Kawasar Talaat, a vaccine researcher and infectious disease doctor at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg. .. Faculty of Public Health.

In addition to establishing herd immunity, it is necessary to vaccinate children Suppress the emergence of more variants (((SN: 2/5/21). Sharon Nuffman, a pediatric infectious disease doctor at the State University of New York at Stony Brook University’s Renaissance School of Medicine, said, “If immunization of the population fails, it means that the virus is allowed to continue to make new mutations.” It states. yoke.

Test with children

Shots will be tested in this group to assess efficacy, safety and dosage to pave the way for children to be vaccinated against COVID-19. The progress of the exam is slightly different for young people and adults.

To measure how well Shot worked for adults, clinical trials evaluated whether the vaccine prevented symptomatological illness. Since it required tens of thousands of participants, there are enough cases of symptomatological COVID-19 to compare cases between those who have been vaccinated and those who have not. Determine the effectiveness of the vaccine (((SN: 10/4/20).

However, to do this for children, the test “needs to be bigger,” says Erbelding, because symptoms are less likely to occur in children than in adults. Instead, researchers look at how the child’s immune system responds to the vaccine, for example by measuring antibodies. Using data from the adult immune response as a guide, the test can assess whether the vaccine works for children.

Vaccine safety is also monitored in children’s trials. The fact that shots have proven safe in adults is a good sign, as there is no reason to expect significantly different reactions in children and adults, both in testing and post-vaccination monitoring.As a child, some researchers wonder if MIS-C is a post-vaccination risk High levels of antibodies diagnosed with the syndrome From a child of COVID-19.However, a format similar to this Adult complications, MIS-A has not been reported in vaccinated adults. “It should give you some relief,” says Erbelding.

The goal in understanding medication is to look at the manageable side effects from the shot, “what leads you to the sweet spot of a good immune response,” says Nachman. Some of the possible side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine are injection site pain, headache, and malaise. Adolescent study participants receive the same dose as adults. However, younger children are smaller and the immune system tends to respond very well to vaccines, so children may have another “sweet spot.” Vaccine trials for children are designed to test small doses as needed when transitioning to ages 7-11, 2-6, and under 2.

The question of how many children can be vaccinated before the start of the next school year is still a big issue. But prevent everyone to stop the virus, “so that children can return to school in the usual way, without masks, without the need for social distance, and without everything enacted last year.” You need to be vaccinated. Talat says.

Sign up for the latest from Science news

Latest headlines and summaries Science news Articles delivered to your inbox