Moderna begins testing vaccine on young children, infants

Moderna has begun testing its COVID-19 vaccine on children and infants between the ages of six months and 12 years old in a study, as the pharmaceutical company seeks to expand approval for its vaccine to children.

Moderna announced on Tuesday that the first participants in the KidCOVE study on pediatric COVID-19 vaccinations had been dosed. Moderna is the first of the companies with vaccines authorized in the U.S. to launch testing among infants.

The research expects to enroll 6,750 children older than six months and younger than 12 years old in the U.S. and Canada. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority will assist in the study.

“Children often need lower doses of vaccines than adults and we want to make sure we find the best dose that increases their immunity,” Jacqueline Miller, Moderna’s therapeutic head for infectious diseases, told ABC’s “Good Morning America.“