As the Biden government continues its effort to vaccinate millions of Americans before COVID-19 mutates, health experts and drug makers have begun to focus on inoculating children in hopes of overcoming the herd’s immunity limit to the virus.
“Hopefully, when we get to late spring, early summer, we will have children who can be vaccinated according to FDA guidelines,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s leading infectious disease specialist, last week.
Although children are less likely than adults to develop serious illnesses caused by COVID-19, they are known to contract and spread the disease asymptomatically. Fauci estimated that the herd’s immunity limit for COVID-19 is between 70% and 85% of the population, which means that those vaccinated or exposed to the virus reach a level high enough to prevent its spread. Given that almost a quarter of the US population is under the age of 18, to achieve collective immunity it will be necessary for at least some children to be vaccinated.
As of February 1, more than 31 million Americans, the majority over 65, had received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. In the coming weeks, the vaccine launch is expected to extend beyond health professionals and the elderly, but neither vaccine has yet been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for children. The Pfizer vaccine was released for people aged 16 and over, while Moderna was approved for people aged 18 and over.
Both companies started testing for children as young as 12, but Moderna has struggled to find participants young enough. Yahoo News Medical Contributor, Dr. Kavita Patel, explains the need for trials in children under 18 and 16. “Many of the doses of vaccines that we use in a child population are not as strong or are in a different dosage than we could use in adults and especially in the elderly,” said Patel. “In addition, we need to make sure that the two-dose approach is still necessary.”
If the tests go well, coronavirus vaccines will be tested in younger age groups.
“In the coming months, we will be testing in a way of reducing age,” said Fauci last week.
Data from the Centers for Disease Control showed that children and adolescents are less likely than adults to become infected or have serious COVID-19 illnesses.
Patel emphasizes that vaccinating children is not just a matter of obtaining collective immunity, as some children become ill and need medical care. On January 21, about 2.6 million American children tested positive for COVID-19, according to a report by the American Academy of Pediatrics, with between 1.2% and 2.9% of that number requiring hospitalization.
The approval of COVID-19 vaccines for children may also help accelerate Biden’s goal of reopening schools, but Patel warns that children age 6 and under may need to wait until more clinical trial data is available.
“What we hope will happen is that enough people over 16 will get the vaccine to create that herd immunity,” said Patel, adding: “I think that probably 2021 would see a vaccine approved for those over 12, perhaps 8 or 6 and above, but not for the younger age group [age 6 and under] until 2022 at the latest. But again, it depends on what we learn from safety and effectiveness in children. “
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