at the Modern is about two doses of vaccine, each containing 25 micrograms of mRNAwhich are injected 28 days apart. Therefore, for a quarter of the dose intended for adults. Despite the lower dose, the immune response was as strong as in adults, the company announced. The data, which is being discussed at an FDA committee today, is based on a study involving a total of 6,700 children. The efficiency of the vaccine was during the omicron wave for the very young, according to the study 51 percent (six months to 2 years) also 37 percent for children aged 2 to 5 years. These efficacy estimates are comparable to the effectiveness of the adult Omicron vaccine after two doses, according to the company.
US pharmaceutical giant Moderna is not only awaiting approval in the US – Moderna has also requested that approval be extended to children aged six months to five years in the EU.
Biotech has three points for small
Competitor relies on a different vaccine schedule Pfizer/Biotech, whose start of study was unfortunate. As a reminder: In a first study, Biontech/Pfizer tested two doses of three micrograms each in children aged six months and five years. In children aged two to five years, however, the two-dose vaccination did not lead to a sufficient immune response, as announced in December. The two-dose vaccination schedule was only successful in children under two years of age.
Pharmaceutical partners then expanded their study to include a booster: the children under 5 years were like this with three spots of 3 micrograms of mRNA each vaccinated, ie one-tenth of the adult dose. The third dose was given at least two months after the second dose.
Contrary to the two points, this model proved successful: The efficiency According to the company, the vaccination schedule is included 80.3 percent. The data comes from a study of 1,678 vaccinated young children: This study is also being debated by FDA experts today.
Both vaccines were well tolerated and no new side effects were observed.
Protecting Children from Pims and Long Covid
In addition to efficacy and good tolerability, the question of whether children under the age of five should be vaccinated also includes the possible consequences of a coronavirus infection: children can start three to four weeks after acute Covid 19 infection. pim become ill, a severely inflammatory disease.
The cause of the outbreak is unclear and there is currently no reliable data on the frequency: studies speak of one case in 2,000 infected children. In many cases, Pims is accompanied by symptoms of shock and temporary cardiovascular failure.
Also long covid can affect children – one in four children who contracted Covid-19 and showed symptoms may experience long-term effects, a review study shows. Of about 80,000 children from 21 international studies, 25% of children aged zero to 18 developed symptoms that lasted at least four to 12 weeks or that appeared within 12 weeks of infection.