The Covid vaccine is under development for young children.This is why they are different

In fact, most adults can work well at low doses, says Dr. Robert Frenck, who leads the vaccine trial at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.

“We saw 10 micrograms, 20 micrograms, and 30 micrograms in adults,” Frenck told reporters.

“We found that between the ages of 18 and 55, a dose of 10 micrograms provided a very good immune response,” he added.

“But at ages 65 and older, they did not respond to lower doses, so we chose a dose of 30 micrograms in the age range for adults 18 years and older.”

Frenck said he didn’t have time and no reason to scrutinize last year’s dosing. “During the pandemic, we wanted to get the vaccine right away,” he told CNN’s John Berman.

“We knew that we needed 30 micrograms over the age of 65 to get the best immune response, and we knew that 30 micrograms were well tolerated by young adults. , I used that one dose for everyone. “

Therefore, even older children will not miss it if they take lower doses.

“I think a 12-year-old child with a dose of 10 micrograms would show an immune response similar to that of a dose of 30 micrograms, but there is no data for that,” he said.

For the youngest child (children under 5 years old), doctors are testing 3 micrograms of the vaccine.

This low dose minimizes side effects

So far, Pfizer vaccines appear to be very safe for young children, according to Frenck. “What we found is that the side effects of children are exactly what we see in adults,” he said.

“Therefore, the most common is pain at the injection site. There is also headache, and perhaps malaise. Fever and chills were abnormal-only about 10-11% of children who have them. With adults. Same or same as adults, side effects lasted for a day or two, after which people returned to normal. “

Many parents may be worried about reports of a rare heart inflammation called myocarditis. This is found in both Moderna and Pfizer vaccines.

“Therefore, myocarditis (meaning swelling of the heart muscle) was found to look like a second dose of Moderna or Pfizer vaccine because of the rare side effects associated with it,” Frenck said. I told the group.

“It seems that there is a 99.999% chance that this will not happen, as it is a rare meaning that there is a possibility of a few in 100,000. Almost all are teenage boys and are mildly treated with motrin (ibuprofen). “I’m getting better.”

The only two side effects that did not appear in clinical trials were the rare cases of easily treatable myocarditis and the blood clots found in most older women who received the Johnson & Johnson or AstraZeneca vaccine, Frenck said. Said.

“Beyond current clinical trials, we have literally given hundreds of millions of vaccines to adults and teenagers across the country,” Frenck said.

“If you don’t see anything after hundreds of millions of doses, you won’t see anything, so parents should be reassured that this vaccine has been given to literally many people. Hundreds of millions of people , And that it continues to show a very good safety profile. “

People can get the Covid-19 vaccine along with the flu vaccine and other immunizations

“We can collect the vaccines we need,” Frenck said.

“The only limitation is that if you are vaccinated with a live virus vaccine, such as chickenpox or measles, and you cannot get it on the same day, you want to be at least one month apart. But with the Covid vaccine, you want to be at least one month apart. It’s possible. I’ll give you an influenza vaccine. “

“If you are a teenager and need to get the meningococcal vaccine, HPV vaccine, or TDaP (tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis, pertussis vaccine), you can get them all at the same time. No space is required. Our immune system can process all vaccines at the same time. “

Other Covid-19 vaccines are in the pipeline

“For now, we are evaluating the Moderna vaccine. We are working with the National Institutes of Health,” Frenck said.

“We have finished enrolling between the ages of 6 and 11. We are currently planning to suspend it just to review the data and confirm the dosage,” he added.

The Moderna vaccine, approved for people over the age of 18, is prescribed at doses higher than Pfizer’s 100 micrograms compared to the 30 microgram dose of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine, but both of these vaccines It also uses technology called mRNA or messenger RNA to direct the immune system.

Moderna has submitted an emergency use authorization to the FDA for children aged 12 to 17 years. Data on younger children will be available later this year.

Johnson & Johnson has stated that it is “actively discussing development plans and pilot design with regulators” for teens and children, and plans to begin testing in the fall.

In addition, companies are beginning to test nasal spray prescriptions for vaccines, according to Frenck. This is a needle-free vaccine similar to the FluMist vaccine given to prevent influenza.

Vaccination of children helps control the pandemic

“I think vaccination of children has a big impact on helping control the pandemic,” Frenck said.

“Looking at the number of cases and the proportion of cases in the United States over the past few weeks, we are approaching 30% of the new cases that occur in children under the age of 18. In fact, children under the age of 18 account for about 20% of the population. The proportion of cases in children is imbalanced, “he says.

“Being able to vaccinate 40% of unvaccinated people would bring us a greater benefit than trying to boost everyone right now,” Frenck told CNN. Told.