Moderna to test vaccine on infants

Moderna announced on Tuesday it will test its COVID-19 vaccine on children as young as 6 months, the first US vaccine maker to test on infants.

The clinical trial, named Kid-COVE, intends to enroll approximately 6,750 healthy children aged 6 months to 11 years in the US and Canada, the biotech company said.

The volunteer study will assess the safety and efficacy of Moderna's two-dose regimen, given 28 days apart. In a separate study, Moderna is testing its vaccine in 3,000 children aged 12 to 17 years and may have results for that age group this summer.

While only 216 children under age 17 have died of COVID-19, according to the latest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data, children can still transmit the virus to adults.

"We are encouraged by the primary analysis of the Phase III COVE study of mRNA-1273 in adults aged 18 and above and this pediatric study will help us assess the potential safety and immunogenicity of our COVID-19 vaccine candidate in this important younger age population," said Stephane Bancel, CEO of Moderna.

Moderna said the first age group to start in the trial will be children aged 6 to 11, followed by children aged 2 to 6 and then children 6 months to 2 years of age.

The trial is the latest effort to widen the mass-vaccination campaign beyond adults. Most COVID-19 vaccines authorized in the US so far are protecting adults, who are at higher risk of severe disease caused by the coronavirus than children.

Moderna's and Johnson & Johnson's vaccines are authorized for use in adults 18 and older, while the vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech SE are for people 16 and older.

Moderna's trial comes as US schools start to reopen, and children are returning to classrooms under the guidelines of keeping 6 feet (2 meters) apart－or less－to avoid infections.

Agencies contributed to this story.