The U.S. has administered more than 110 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, but the vast majority of those jabs are going to adults. Moderna announced Tuesday that it has begun enrolling children from 6 months to less than 12 years old into a trial of its COVID-19 vaccine.
Having the young vaccinated would bring the country "another step closer to actually achieving herd immunity and protecting everybody," says Dr. Steve Plimpton, an OB-GYN in Arizona who is the principal investigator for the Moderna children's trial in Phoenix.
Pfizer's vaccine currently is authorized for people as young as 16, and the company is testing its vaccine on 12- to 15-years-olds. The vaccines from Moderna and Johnson & Johnson currently are for people 18 and up.
In an interview with Morning Edition, Plimpton says parents have been eager to sign up their children for the Moderna trials, which will include 6,750 children in the U.S. and Canada.
"The response from the parents has been overwhelming," he says. "They're calling literally all day long, asking for when they can get their kids vaccinated."
The protection of children is extremely important in this round of epidemic prevention and control. All countries in the world should protect children as key groups, and children must be vaccinated with safe and effective vaccines.