Novavax to begin COVID vaccine trial on children, teenagers by second quarter

Updated : April 06, 2021 03:49 PM IST

Those who participate in the trials won't be told whether they are being administered a vaccine or a placebo.

American vaccine development company Novavax will soon kick off its pediatric trial for the COVID-19 vaccine. The officials of the company — whose COVID-19 vaccine jabs are also developed in the Serum Institute of India among other locations across the world — on Monday (April 5) said it will expand its vaccine trials to include children and teenagers by the second quarter. These trials are likely to be carried out in the United States (US) and Mexico, according to reports.

The drugmaker further stated that it will initiate crossover vaccine trials. Those who were given a placebo during the ongoing COVID-19 vaccine trial in South Africa and the United Kingdom can now get the active vaccine shots. It added that those who participate in the trials won't be told whether they are being administered a vaccine or a placebo.

A senior official said the crossover trials will give all the participants access to active COVID-19 vaccine shots while allowing the company to test the efficacy of its vaccine jabs.

The announcement by Novavax comes a few days after another American drug maker Johnson & Johnson said it will expand its ongoing COVID-19 vaccine trial to include adolescents between the age of 12 and 17 years.

In the last week of March, American pharmaceutical firm ‘Pfizer’, along with its German counterpart BioNTech SE, had launched COVID-19 vaccine trials in children under the age of 12 years. In December 2020, the drugmaker had received authorisation for vaccine trials in those above the age of 16 years in the US. In fact, Pfizer and Moderna have also started testing their mRNA shots in kids as young as six months.

Published : April 06, 2021 03:49 PM IST

Novavax to begin COVID vaccine trial on children, teenagers by second quarter

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