Moderna may expand pediatric COVID-19 vaccine trial

Moderna said Monday it may expand the size of its COVID-19 vaccine trial for younger children, as both Pfizer and Moderna plan to seek authorization from the Food and Drug Administration to vaccinate some of the youngest Americans later this year.

Both drug makers based their COVID-19 vaccines on a new platform technology, mRNA, and there have been reports of rare cases of heart inflammation in people under 30 who were vaccinated with mRNA vaccines. So, health officials and FDA advisers say they hope expanding the size of the trials could help detect this and other possible rare side effects in younger children. "It is our intent to expand the trial and we are actively discussing a proposal with the FDA. The objective is to enroll a larger safety database which increases the likelihood of detecting rarer events," a spokesperson for Moderna said in a statement.