The Hague, Netherlands:
The European medicines watchdog on Friday authorized the use of Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine for children aged 12 to 17, producing it the second jab for adolescents for use on the continent.
“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 (EMA) mentioned, applying Moderna’s brand name.
The vaccine will be offered in two injections, every single 4 weeks apart.
The choice by the Amsterdam-based agency follows the approval of the 1st vaccine for European youngsters, by Pfizer/BioNTech in May.
The effects of Spikevax have been studied amongst 3,732 children aged 12 to 17 years, the EMA mentioned.
“The study showed that Spikevax produced a comparable antibody response in 12- to 17-year-olds to that seen in young adults aged 18 to 25 years,” it mentioned.
It makes use of genetic material to provide guidelines to human cells to generate the spike protein of the coronavirus, thereby instruction an immune response with no exposing the host to a true infection.
The EU on Thursday mentioned 200 million Europeans have been totally vaccinated, more than half of the adult population, but nevertheless quick of a 70 % target it had set for the summer time.