On Tuesday, Moderna announced that its COVID-19 vaccine appears to be safe and effective in adolescents. A study involving 3,732 children, ages 12 through 17, produced blood test results that showed what Moderna describes as equivalent immune response to adults given the vaccine. The company says that during their trial, none of the children who received the vaccine got sick with COVID-19 after two weeks had passed, whereas a handful of children in the placebo wing of the study tested positive, which they described as “consistent with a vaccine efficacy of 100 percent.” Moderna says that in early June, it will submit the clinical trial results to the Food and Drug Administration, in the hopes of getting an emergency authorization for the vaccine to be used in children in this age group. With the Biden administration ramping up vaccine distribution, the White House has announced that they expect the U.S. to hit the milestone of having 50 percent of all adults fully inoculated against COVID-19 on Tuesday.
