The world seems to be on pause while we await a cure for COVID-19. The reality is that we won’t ever have a cure, but a vaccine is the next best thing that we can hope for. Health experts have repeatedly told the world that we need a successful vaccine before life may return to any amount of normalcy. Vaccine trials have been underway for a while now, but these trials have only been done on adults. They have yet to start testing vaccines on children. Vaccine testing is not without its risks, and it means being even more careful when it comes to testing on children.
According to Metro, the US is about to start testing vaccines on children as young as 12. The announcement comes after the pharmaceutical company, Pfizer, got the green light to expand their trial to young teens. It is normal for vaccine trials to work backwards. They are starting with young teens, but they will likely start testing on younger ages as well.
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The company had already gotten permission to enroll people in their trials at 16, but they have now gone even younger. They are hoping by including the younger population, that they will be able to better understand the safety and efficiency of the vaccine. Pfizer has been working on a vaccine since July, and they are hopeful that by the end of this month they will know whether it works or not.
When a vaccine is available, it will be going to the elderly first, as they are the most at-risk when it comes to COVID-19. However, a vaccine for children is important when it comes to stopping outbreaks at schools. There has been some concern over completing vaccine trials on children, and health experts have said that they need to see that the vaccine is safe and has some efficiency in adults before they start testing it on large groups of young children.
Moncef Slaoui is the lead scientist who is in charge of the US Government’s coronavirus vaccine, and he said that they will be testing according to age. They started with adults, they went to teens, now they are working on preteens. When that is successful, they will eventually go down to children, then toddlers and then babies.
Vaccine testing on children can be fearful, but it is necessary to stop the spread of the virus. The trust is in the scientists that they have done the research and evidence-based work to ensure that it is safe for everyone.
Source: Metro