Covid19 – Novavax starts vaccine trials on children
US biotech firm Novavax said Monday it had started clinical trials of its proposed Covid-19 vaccine on children, in a program that will involve up to 3,000 adolescents aged 12-17. Participants will be monitored for up to two years after their injections.
Read also – FDA to authorise Pfizer vaccines for adolescents
Far fewer children have been sick with Covid-19 compared to adults, and most have mild to no symptoms, but they can be infected and spread the virus.
The Novavax vaccine, which uses different technology from the doses already widely licensed around the world, is a protein-based vaccine engineered from the genetic sequence of the first strain of the coronavirus.
The Novavax vaccine has not yet been authorized in any country, including for adults, but the company plans to file for emergency authorization in Britain “in the second quarter of 2021”, followed by in the United States.
Other vaccine companies including Moderna, Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer are also conducting trials in adolescents.
