COVID Vax For NJ Kids Under 5: Moderna Asks FDA To Authorize – Yahoo News
NEW JERSEY – A COVID-19 vaccination for some of New Jersey’s residents is as close as ever, with Moderna on Thursday asking the Food and Drug Administration to authorize a low-dose vaccine for kids ages six months to five years.
The agency is expected to make a decision by June. Right now, children under five years old are the only age group that cannot be vaccinated against COVID-19 in the U.S. Those as young as five can receive the Pfizer vaccine, but the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson shots are only available to those over 18 years old.
Moderna’s child vaccination will be about a quarter of the amount that adults receive, with a two 25-microgram dose regimen to be given four weeks apart.
Vaccinating the nation’s youngest children “has been somewhat of a moving target over the last couple of months,” Dr. Bill Muller of Northwestern University, an investigator in Moderna’s pediatric studies, said in an interview with The Associated Press. “There’s still, I think, a lingering urgency to try to get that done as soon as possible.”
The news comes as the country reports a slight spike in COVID-19 cases following Easter and Passover gatherings earlier this month. In New Jersey, the daily case average is over 2,400, a 28 percent increase over the previous 14 days.
The rate of transmission in the state is 1.1, meaning that every new case is leading to roughly one other new case.
As of Friday, eight New Jersey counties are labeled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as “medium” areas for transmission (Bergen, Essex, Morris, Somerset, Middlesex, Mercer, Atlantic and Cape May counties). Per the CDC, “medium” rates of transmission means at-risk individuals are recommended to speak with healthcare providers about whether mask-wearing or other precautions are necessary. The rest of the counties in the state report “low” transmission.
Gov. Phil Murphy noted earlier this month that the uptick in reported cases was to be expected in the days following the religious celebrations. Read more: Mask Mandate Return In NJ? ‘Never Say Never,’ Says Gov. Murphy
“The only other side to that [anticipated spike], is good news: the weather is getting warmer, we’re going to be outside … over the next couple of weeks and months,” Murphy told News12 during ‘Ask Gov. Murphy’ on April 11.
“These waves come and go. We’re probably in the soup here for another four to six weeks, but nothing remotely that we’re looking at like what we’ve gone through before,” Murphy added. Read more: Post-Holiday COVID Spike In NJ: What You Need To Know
With a vaccine for some of the state’s youngest residents, experts hope to decrease the risk of hospitalizations for future spikes.
A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study published in March shows that during the omicron surge, children under 5 were hospitalized at a rate about five times higher than they were during the delta spike.
Moderna said early data showed that two weeks after getting the two shots, 6,900 children enrolled in its study showed youngsters developed virus-fighting antibody levels as strong as young adults getting its full-strength shots, the company said in a news release.
The only side effects were mild fevers similar to those associated with other common pediatric vaccines, the company said.
In February, Moderna competitor Pfizer paused its application seeking emergency authorization to offer toddler-sized doses to children under 5. The FDA said at the time it wanted more data on the efficacy of a three-dose series of the vaccine for children ages 6 months to 4 years. A third dose “may provide a higher level of protection in this age group,” the company said in a statement.
COVID Vax For NJ Kids Under 5: Moderna Asks FDA To Authorize originally appeared on the Holmdel-Hazlet Patch