As statewide eligibility for the COVID-19 vaccine expands to residents 16 and older, researchers at Stanford Medicine have set their sights on an even younger group: children ages 2 to 5. The medical school Wednesday began administering doses to children in the tender age group as part of a larger, three-phase trial of Pfizer-BioNech’s COVID-19 vaccine that will ultimately include children ages 6 months to 12 years. Currently, the Pfizer vaccine is available to people age 16 and older, while the Moderna vaccine is available to people 18 and older. The trial arrives as Moderna conducts its own study to determine whether its vaccine is safe and effective in children as young as 6 months. “We ultimately would like to get — and have to get — children into that mix.”Last month, Pfizer announced that their COVID-19 vaccine was 100% effective in a study of participants ages 12 to 15.

Source: Los Angeles Times April 15, 2021 22:11 UTC