Moderna Says Parents Can Be "Reassured" By Its Vaccine For Kids

The most recent trial for Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine for children revealed that two doses of its vaccine have a 51% vaccine efficacy for kids younger than 2 and 37% among kids from 2 to 5 years old.

These results are something that Moderna's Chief Medical Officer Dr. Paul Burton believes should comfort parents who are worried about giving their young children the vaccine. 

"People can be reassured and confident that these kids will get safely protected against disease," Burton told CBS News' Nancy Chen. 

As for side effects, Dr. Burton said some Moderna trial patients experienced injection site pain or a low-grade fever. 

The trials were primarily conducted during COVID's Omicron wave and Moderna says the vaccine appeared to generate the same volume of antibodies in children as it does in 18- to- 24-year olds. 

"I am a believer that you need to get the vaccine to get enough immunity to protect yourself against these, especially as the virus continues to change," CBS News medical contributor Dr. David Agus told "CBS Mornings."

Anne Rodriguez's twins, Theo and Sam, were participants in Moderna's latest round of trials at the University of Wisconsin. She told CBS News it was important to her family because her husband and mother, while vaccinated, both had pre-existing conditions that put them at higher risk for COVID's most severe effects. 

"We wanted them vaccinated as soon as possible. We also just very much wanted to see our vaccine trials move forward so that this youngest group of kids could also get protected," Rodriguez said. 

Theo got one of his shots in November. When he and his brother turned five, the Rodriguez family learned that Theo had received Moderna's vaccine and Sam received a placebo. 

They un- enrolled Sam from the study so he could get the Pfizer vaccine. Rodriguez said the whole experience of getting her children vaccinated has been a huge relief. 

"The last two years have been nothing that we would have ever imagined. Having vaccines for these youngest kids feels like a light end of the tunnel," Rodriguez said. 

First published on April 28, 2022 / 12:42 PM

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