Oxford University plans to test the AVC-19 vaccine manufactured by AstraZeneca for the first time on children, it was announced on Saturday.
The trial aims to recruit 300 volunteers between the ages of 6 and 17, with up to 240 receiving the COVID-19 vaccine and the rest a continental meningitis vaccine.
The trial is set to begin this month at the University and additional sites in London, Southampton and Bristol, Sky News reported.
Get The Times of Israel Daily Edition by Email and Never Miss Our Top Stories Free Sign Up
Andrew Pollard, lead researcher on the Oxford vaccine trial, says that although most children do not become seriously ill with COVID-19, it is important to determine the safety and immune response to the vaccine in children and adolescents, as some children may do. benefit from vaccination. ”
Undated file photo shows a volunteer receiving the coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University in Oxford, England. (John Cairns / University of Oxford via AP, File)
Regulators in more than 50 countries have allowed the widespread use of the Oxford vaccine, manufactured and distributed by AstraZeneca, for use in people over 18 years of age.
Professor Andrew Pollard, Director of the Oxford Vaccine Group, and Professor of Pediatric Infection and Immunity Receive the Oxford University / AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine at Churchill Hospital in Oxford, January 4, 2021 (Steve Parsons / Pool Photo via AP )
Other drug companies are also testing the COVID-19 vaccines in children. Pfizer, whose vaccine has already been approved for use in people aged 16 and older, began testing it in October in children as young as 12 years old. Moderna began testing its vaccine on children as young as 12 in December.
Pollard said the trial in Oxford should help policymakers decide whether they want to extend mass vaccination programs to children at some point in the future, as they want to ensure schools are safe and the spread of the virus to the wider population combat.
“For most children, COVID is not a big issue for themselves,” Pollard told The Associated Press. ‘However, it is certainly possible that a wider use to curb the progress of the pandemic could be considered in the future. Therefore, we are only trying to determine the data that can support it if policymakers want to go in that direction. . ”
Although children are generally less at risk for serious diseases after contracting the coronavirus, a pediatrician and clinician from the Oxford Vaccine Group said it was important to test the vaccine on children because of the negative effects of the pandemic. on their education and emotional behavior. wellbeing.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profoundly negative impact on the education, social development and emotional well-being of children and adolescents, in addition to illness and rare serious illnesses,” Rinn Song told the Guardian. “It is therefore important to gather information on the safety and immune response to our coronavirus vaccine in these age groups so that it may benefit from the inclusion in vaccination programs in the near future.”