Moderna coronavirus vaccine effective for kids under five years: USFDA
Even though Moderna's vaccine has proven less effective against the Omicron variant, it remains very good at protecting against severe cases of the disease, the FDA pointed out.;
New Delhi: US health authorities confirmed on Friday that data provided by drug-maker Moderna on the efficacy of its Covid-19 vaccine among very young children were accurate, ahead of a decision next week on whether to authorize two inoculations against the virus in kids aged six months to five years.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which independently analyzed data from clinical trials conducted by Moderna, said vaccine efficacy against symptomatic cases of Covid-19 was 51 percent in babies aged six months to less than two years old, and 37 percent in children aged two to five years.
The figures are lower than those recorded during clinical trials on adults, but that is only because the trials for the very young children were conducted during a wave linked to the Omicron variant, according to the FDA.
"Although the VE (vaccine efficacy) … in children six months to five years is lower than that observed in the pivotal adult or older pediatric studies, it is highly consistent with real-world vaccine effectiveness observed against Omicron in adults," the FDA said in a statement.
Read also: Bivalent booster demonstrates superior antibody response against Omicron: Moderna
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