COVID-19 Vaccine Race Leaves Children Behind

Children may have a long way to go before they receive a vaccine that offers immunity against the coronavirus.

Part of the reason is that drug manufacturers have not begun testing their vaccine candidates on youngsters. Moderna and Johnson & Johnson plan to initiate pediatric trials within 12 months of establishing the safety and efficacy of vaccines for adults, according to USNews.Info. According to experts, it is commonplace to test vaccines first on adults before entering the pediatric field.

Other drug companies in the COVID-19 vaccine race, Pfizer and AstraZeneca, said they will also include youth in their clinical trials in the future. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) issued an urgent appeal to vaccine manufacturers to consider the safety of children when developing antiviral drugs to fight COVID-19.

According to Axios, children have a relatively low risk of severe complications from COVID-19, but they can spread the disease to vulnerable adults. “If you protect children, then you will reduce community spread and protect adults, so it’s more of a herd community rather than a specific immunity question,” said John P. Moore, PhD., professor or microbiology and immunology at Weill Cornell Medical College. “If you need 70% protection in herd immunity, at some point your will need to include children in that.”

Pediatricians warn that until the safety of a vaccine for children is established, parents may be reluctant to have their youngsters immunized against COVID-19. According to CNN, the National Poll on Children’s Health released Monday found that one-third of parents have no plans to vaccinate their children despite the possibility they can become infected.