Moderna says its Covid-19 vaccine found safe, effective in teens

Moderna Covid-19 Vaccine

Moderna's Covid-19 vaccine was shown to be effective in adolescents aged 12-17 and showed no new or major safety problems in a clinical trial, the developer said on Tuesday, potentially setting the stage for a second vaccine for school-aged children to be authorized in July. Moderna Inc, whose vaccine is authorized for adults 18 and older, said it will submit the findings of its adolescent study to the US Food and Drug Administration and other regulators for emergency use authorization in early June. US regulators took about a month to review a similar study from Pfizer/BioNtech, which was authorized for ages 12-15 on May 10. If Moderna gets the same treatment, its authorization would come in early July. Most children with Covid-19 develop only mild symptoms or no symptoms. Yet children remain at risk of becoming seriously ill, and they can spread the virus. Widely vaccinating 12- to 18-year olds could allow US schools and summer camps to relax masking and social distancing measures suggested by the CDC.