SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (KRON) -- Pharmaceutical company Moderna is making strides in its efforts to vaccinate the younger population.
KRON4's Sanaz Tahernia explains how far researchers have come in their study.
As the world's fight against COVID-19 forges on, pharmaceutical giants Pfizer and Moderna are getting closer to safely vaccinating adolescents.
Moderna completed Phase 2 of its "teen-cove" study where more than 3,200 participants ages 12-17 received both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
And UCSF Infectious Disease Specialist Dr. Peter Chin-Hong says the results were not surprising.
"The first trials were done in older individuals, so for Pfizer it was above 16. For Moderna, it was above 18," Dr. Chin-Hong said. "So the next phase of Moderna was looking at ages of 12-17 and like Pfizer it showed, not surprisingly, that it was very, very effective."
The studies show that Moderna's vaccine is 96% effective and Pfizer is 100% effective in their respective age groups.
Side effects were pretty consistent with what we've seen so far.
"Pain at the site, maybe some mild headaches, feeling fatigued," Dr. Chin Hong said. "More after the second shot versus the 1st shot."
Getting people as young as twelve vaccinated will require parental or guardian consent. Dr. Chin Hong urges parents to get their kids vaccinated when possible.
"I would really encourage folks, and I know that sometimes an immediate decision is hard to make, but over time I hope that all parents embrace this as something that not only protects themselves because kids can transmit the infection to grandparents and older individuals, but to protect kids themselves as well."
Moderna and Pfizer are expected to submit their study to the FDA by the end of the month.
from KRON4 https://ift.tt/33nbxR8
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