Moderna said on Tuesday its COVID-19 vaccine has been found to be effective in children aged between 12 and 17, and that no new safety concerns emerged in a clinical trial.
Moderna’s vaccine was approved for use in the USA five months ago, for adults over the age of 18.
The Massachusetts-based pharmaceutical company will submit findings of its latest study to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and othe
r regulators with the hope of getting emergency use authorisation among teenagers by early June.
“We are encouraged that mRNA-1273 was highly effective at preventing COVID-19 in adolescents,” said Moderna chief executive Stephane Bancel.
The trial was conducted among 3,723 youngsters between the ages of 12 and 17. Two-thirds of the volunteers received two doses of the vaccine.
It was found that none of the participants developed any serious COVID-19 symptom, while four in the placebo group contracted the virus.
A single dose of the vaccine resulted in 93 per cent efficacy, while two doses yielded cent per cent efficacy.
The US previously authorized the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for 16-year-olds and over, and later for children aged 12.