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The University of Oxford will begin testing the Covid-19 vaccine with which it was developed AstraZeneca Plc for children, a potential key step in ending the global pandemic.
The Oxford trial intends to enroll 300 children decrepit 6-17, the university said in a statement on Saturday. The first vaccinations will take place this month, with up to 240 children receiving the coronavirus vaccine, and the rest a meningitis vaccine, which should produce similar side effects. Astra in the US expects a larger trial with thousands of children to take place later.
The Phase II study will take place in Oxford and three UK cities – London, Southampton and Bristol – and will assess the safety and immune responses of children. Investigators will test the blow on the children decrepit Between 12 and 17 years before moving to the younger age group, with the initial dates expected by the summer, said Andrew Pollard, the trial’s lead investigator, in a Bloomberg interview.
The study will look at two dosing regimens one month and three months apart, Pollard said.
Tests for children began in earnest late last year after the safety and efficacy of primary vaccines were established in adults. Pfizer Inc., which has an approved vaccine for humans decrepit 16 years and over, completed registration for his 12- to 15-year-old trial last month, with more than 2,000 children tested. Moderna Inc. He also tests his photos on teenagers and Johnson & Johnson expects to begin children’s studies soon.
We set out to test children from the beginning “to make sure we had the greatest opportunity of access to the vaccine at all ages,” Pollard said. “I am absolutely delighted that today we are launching pediatric studies after this long journey we have been on.”
While most children have limited or no symptoms of Covid-19 and rarely become seriously ill, little is known about how much they can transmit the virus. Vaccination of young people could be the key to stopping the spread of the virus, helping to keep schools open and preventing older relatives and people in the community from getting sick.
Starting February 4th About 2.93 million children in the United States have tested positive for coronavirus since the onset of the pandemic, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.
(Add Oxford as a test site in the third paragraph)