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Oxford University will begin testing the Covid-19 vaccine it developed AstraZeneca Plc on children, a potentially key step in ending the global pandemic.
The trial in Oxford is scheduled to enroll 300 children aged 6- to 17-year-olds said the university on Saturday in a statement. The first vaccines will take place this month, with up to 240 children receiving the coronavirus vaccine and the rest, a meningitis vaccine, which should produce similar side effects. Astra is expected to conduct a larger rehearsal with thousands of children later in the US.
The Phase II study will be conducted in Oxford and three UK cities (London, Southampton and Bristol) and will assess safety and immune responses in children. Researchers will test the shooting on children aged Between the ages of 12 and 17 before moving on to the younger age group, with the first data scheduled for the summer, Andrew Pollard, the trial’s lead investigator, said in an interview with Bloomberg.
The study will examine two dosing regimens of one month and three months apart, Pollard said.
Children’s tests it really started late last year after the safety and efficacy of leading vaccines in adults had been established. Pfizer Inc., which has an approved vaccine for people aged The 16-year-olds completed trial registration for 12- to 15-year-olds last month with more than 2,000 children tested. Moderna Inc. is also testing its shot in teens and Johnson & Johnson is expected to begin children’s rehearsals soon.
We planned to conduct pediatric trials from the beginning “to make sure we had the best chance of access at all ages” to the vaccine, Pollard said. “I am absolutely delighted that today we are launching pediatric trials after this long road we have made.”
Although most children have limited or no symptoms of Covid-19 and rarely become seriously ill, little is known about how much they can transmit the virus. Vaccination of young people can be key to stopping the spread of the virus, helping to keep schools open, and preventing older relatives and people in the community from falling ill.
From February 4 approximately 2.93 million children in the U.S. had tested positive for coronavirus since the start of the pandemic, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.
(Add Oxford as a test site in the third paragraph)