The English University of Oxford began clinical trials this Saturday to test the effectiveness in children aged 6 to 17 of the vaccine he developed with the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, in what are considered the world’s first studies in children. under the age of six.
In a statement, the researchers explain that tests to determine the safety and immune response of children to the vaccine technically known as ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 will be developed in centers in Oxford, London, Southampton and Bristol.
For these studies, 300 volunteers will be recruited, of which up to 240 will receive the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine. and the rest a meningitis vaccine.
According to the University of Oxford, these are the first studies in young children with a vaccine against covid, because so far only 16 and 17-year-olds have been tested, without any preparation for public use at this time.
Oxford lead researcher and childhood immunity and infection expert Andrew Pollard said that although children appear to be less affected by coronavirus and are less likely to become seriously ill, “it is important to establish safety and immune response.” to the vaccine, because some minors may “benefit from immunization.”
The Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine is, along with that of Moderna and Pfizer / BioNTech, one of three currently administered in the UK, which aims to meet the goal of vaccinating all four groups next month’s most vulnerable in the UK. society, about 15 million people.
In previous studies in adults, the British preparation, which is also distributed in the European Union and will be offered at prices for developing countries, has been shown to be 63% effective, inoculated in two separate doses of eight to 12 weeks and the efficacy against new variants of the virus is currently being investigated.