Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine was authorized by the European Medicines Agency today for children aged 12 to 17, making it the continent’s second teen vaccination.
“The use of the Spikevax vaccine in children from 12 to 17 years of age will be the same as in people aged 18 and above,” the European Medicines Agency said, adding it will be given in two injections, four weeks apart.
Meanwhile, according to research published in The Lancet, during the first 14 months of the epidemic, an estimated 1.5 million children globally lost a parent, custodial grandparent, or other families who cared for them to coronavirus.
The orphanhood figures come from the United Nations Population Division and mortality statistics from 21 countries that account for 77 percent of worldwide coronavirus fatalities.
“For every two COVID-19 deaths globally, one kid is left behind to confront the death of a parent or caregiver,” said the study’s lead author, Dr. Susan Hillis of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID-19 Response Team.
She noted that as the epidemic develops, the number of orphan coronaviruses would rise. Hillis believes that prioritizing these children and “supporting them for many years into the future” is critical. “And we need to respond quickly,” study coauthor Lucie Cluver of Oxford University said, “since every 12 seconds a kid loses their caregiver to COVID-19.”
Most children do not get seriously ill from Covid, but they are still at risk and can pass it on.
The EMA says a study with the Moderna jab, involving 3,732 children aged 12 to 17, found responses similar to those in young adults aged 18 to 25.
In that study, none of those who received the vaccine developed Covid-19, whereas four given a dummy vaccine did get Covid symptoms.
