Moderna Starts COVID-19 Vaccine Trial in Infants and Young Children
By Nicoletta Lanese | Science Journalist and Live Science Staff Writer

March 16, 2021 | Moderna has begun testing its COVID-19 vaccine in children as young as 6 months old and up to 11 years old, the company announced.

Brittany Siguenza, 5, watching her mother receive a dose of the Moderna vaccine in Revere, Mass., on Friday.
(Image Credit…CJ Gunther/EPA, via Shutterstock)

The trial includes healthy children in the U.S. and Canada and will be conducted in two parts, according to a statement from the company. In the first stage, the company will test how the participants respond to different dose levels of the vaccine. Children older than 2 years old may receive 50 or 100 micrograms of vaccine per dose, while children younger than 2 may receive 25, 50 or 100 micrograms. Each child will receive two doses in total, with each dose given 28 days apart, the same spacing as the shots given to adults.

The first children vaccinated in each group will receive the lowest dose of vaccine, so that the trial organizers can watch for side effects before giving higher doses to other children, The New York Times reported.