Moderna asks U.S. to approve COVID-19 vaccine for kids under 6

Moderna submitted data to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that it hopes will prove two low-dose shots can protect babies, toddlers and preschoolers from COVID-19.

Moderna on Thursday asked U.S. regulators to authorize low doses of its COVID-19 vaccine for children younger than six, a long-awaited move toward potentially opening shots for millions of tots by summer.

Frustrated families are waiting impatiently for a chance to protect the nation’s littlest kids as all around them people shed masks and other public health precautions – even though highly contagious coronavirus mutants continue to spread.

Moderna submitted data to the Food and Drug Administration that it hopes will prove two low-dose shots can protect babies, toddlers and preschoolers – albeit not as effectively during the Omicron surge as earlier in the pandemic.

“There is an important unmet medical need here with these youngest kids,” Dr. Paul Burton, Moderna’s chief medical officer, told The Associated Press.

Two kid-size shots “will safely protect them. I think it is likely that over time they will need additional doses. But we’re working on that.”

Moderna hopes to submit its vaccine candidate for children under six to Health Canada soon, the company told Global News this week. Moderna’s vaccine for children six and older has been approved in Canada.

Now, only children ages five or older can be vaccinated in the U.S., using rival Pfizer’s vaccine, leaving 18 million younger tots unprotected.

Moderna’s vaccine isn’t the only one in the race. Pfizer is soon expected to announce if three of its even smaller-dose shots work for the littlest kids, months after the disappointing discovery that two doses weren’t quite strong enough.