The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to clear Moderna’s two-dose Covid-19 vaccine for children in kindergartens through high school students this week, after the agency’s group of independent vaccine experts voted unanimously Thursday to recommend the vaccines.
The committee approved Moderna vaccine for children aged 6 to 17 years after examining its safety and effectiveness during a public meeting. CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Valensky is expected to sign the recommendation later Thursday, the final step before pharmacies and doctors’ offices start administering the vaccines.
The CDC approved Moderna vaccines for preschool babies aged six months to 5 years on Saturday. Vaccinations for this age group started this week.
Moderna vaccines for older children will not have a direct impact on the vaccination campaign in the United States, other than giving parents another choice. Previously, only the Pfizer vaccine was allowed for children in kindergarten through high school students, although absorption was poor. Two-thirds of children aged 5 to 11 and 30% of adolescents aged 12 to 17 have not yet been vaccinated against Covid.
More than 600 children in these age groups died of Covid during the pandemic and more than 45,000 were hospitalized, according to the CDC. Nearly 11 million children between the ages of 5 and 17 caught Covid during the pandemic.
Children aged 6 to 11 receive smaller Moderna injections of 50 micrograms, while adolescents aged 12 to 17 will receive the same dose as adults at 100 micrograms.
Moderna initially asked the Food and Drug Administration to authorize its vaccine for adolescents aged 12 to 17 more than a year ago, but the regulator refused after other countries expressed concerns that the company’s injections could be linked to more high risk of heart inflammation or myocarditis. than the Pfizer vaccine.
In the United States, there are no direct comparisons of heart inflammation in children receiving Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, as the Moderna vaccine was only allowed for adults until this month. However, comparisons between Pfizer and Moderna images in young people appear to show that the incidence of myocarditis is slightly higher in Moderna recipients, although the data are not consistent across U.S. surveillance systems.
“Some evidence suggests that the risks of myocarditis and pericarditis may be higher after Moderna than after Pfizer. However, the findings are not consistent across all U.S. surveillance systems,” Dr. Tom Shimabukuro, an official, told the committee. in the vaccine safety department of the CDC.
Data available in the United States for myocarditis in children aged 6 to 17 years are based on adverse reactions reported by the Pfizer vaccine, as Moderna injections have not yet been authorized for this age group. The photos from Pfizer and Moderna use similar RNA messaging technology.
The CDC has identified 635 cases of myocarditis in children aged 5 to 17 years after vaccination with 54 million doses of Pfizer. The risk of myocarditis after vaccination with Pfizer is highest after the second vaccine among boys aged 12 to 17 years. Myocarditis is slightly elevated in boys aged 5 to 11 years after the second dose of Pfizer vaccine, although it is much lower than in adolescents.
Boys aged 16 to 17 reported 75 cases of myocarditis per 1 million second dose of Pfizer, while boys aged 12 to 15 reported about 46 cases of myocarditis, according to the CDC. Boys aged 5 to 11 reported 2.6 cases of myocarditis per million seconds of Pfizer dose.
People who develop myocarditis after vaccination are usually hospitalized for a few days as a precaution before being sent home. The CDC found that the risk of myocarditis was higher from Covid infection than from vaccination. Myocarditis in children is usually caused by viral infections.
The most common side effects in children aged 6 to 17 years during the Moderna clinical trials were injection site pain, fatigue, headache, chills, muscle pain and nausea. No cases of myocarditis were confirmed during the studies.
It is not clear how effective the strikes will be against the omicron variant. Clinical trials were conducted at periods when other Covid strains were dominant. Vaccines for adolescents aged 12 to 17 years were about 90% effective in preventing disease from the original Covid strain and the alpha variant, while vaccines for children aged 6 to 11 years were more than 76% effective in preventing disease. from the delta variant, according to the review of data from clinical trials by the Food and Drug Administration.
However, vaccines against Covid have problems fighting the omicron variant, which is now dominant because there are so many mutations. Third shots significantly increase protection in other age groups. Moderna is studying booster photos for children targeting omicron, with data expected later this summer.
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