Skip to main content

Moderna Vaccine in Adolescents

 Safety of the Moderna Vaccine in Adolescents
    With the reopening of schools this August and through September, many adolescents will be subject to a much higher chance of potential COVID-19 exposure. As proven by multiple studies and real-world events, COVID-19 vaccines are the best way to minimize infection. Although multiple COVID-19 vaccines are available to adults, as of August 2021, the Pfizer vaccine is the only vaccine available to children aged 12-17 years. However, a recent study published on August 11, 2021 in the New England Journal of Medicine examined the safety and efficacy of the Moderna vaccine, which is currently available for ages 18 and up, in adolescents between 12 and 17 years. While only the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have published studies with children, if more vaccines are studied and deemed safe and effective in adolescents, adolescents would not only have more vaccine options, but a greater availability of vaccines for their age group.

About the Study

    The study was conducted between December 9, 2020 and February 28, 2021. A total of 3,732 adolescents, aged 12-17 years and in good health, were randomly assigned in a 2:1 ratio to either receive two-100 microgram doses of the Moderna vaccine or a saline placebo. Researchers evaluated the safety and efficacy of the Moderna vaccine in adolescents compared to that of young adults aged 18-25 years. A sample of 340 young adults from the Moderna phase 3 coronavirus efficacy (COVE) trial were used for comparison. The mean age of participants was 14.3 years and 84% of the participants were white. The young adults from the phase 3 study had a similar demographic as the adolescents. It's important to keep in mind that this publication only covered the interim analysis of the study and the adolescent trial is still ongoing. 

Study Results

    Out of the 2,477 adolescents who received the Moderna vaccine, 68.5% reported adverse events after the first injection and 86.1% after the second injection. The most common side effects were fatigue, headache, muscle pain, and chills. The incidence of adverse events among study participants were similar to that of young adults. However, incidence of skin redness was higher among adolescents than young adults. No serious adverse events in the placebo or vaccine groups were noted. In other words, the Moderna vaccine was deemed to have an acceptable safety profile in adolescents.

See here for graph details

    Measuring the immunogenicity, or immune response, of a vaccine is an important factor to determine how the immune system reacts to the vaccine and the antibody levels that are produced. Among the vaccinated participants, 98.8% seroconverted, or developed the necessary antibodies to fight off COVID-19. In comparison, 98.6% of young adults from the phase 3 COVE trial had a serological response. Vaccine efficacy was measured in different populations. In the intention-to-treat population, the Moderna vaccine was 92.7% effective against symptomatic COVID-19 and 59.5% effective against asymptomatic COVID-19 in adolescents with an onset of 14 days after the first injection. However, this interim analysis has a limited number of participants, even in the control group, so more research needs to be conducted before the efficacy of the Moderna vaccine in adolescents can be concluded.

See here for graph details

Discussion

    In this study, researchers ultimately measured the safety, immunogenicity, and efficacy of the Moderna vaccine in adolescents compared to adults. The overall benefit-risk profile of the Moderna vaccine as concluded to be favorable in adolescents. It was determined that the safety of the vaccine in adolescents was similar to that in adults and the immunogenicity of Moderna in adolescents "was noninferior to that of young adults in the phase 3 trial." However, the authors note that efficacy analysis was a secondary objective in the trial because of a small sample size. Further research must be conducted to determine the efficacy of the Moderna vaccine in adolescents since "the number of documented cases of COVID-19 [in this study] is too small to generate robust assessments of efficacy.

Sources

1. Ali, Kashif, et al. “Evaluation of MRna-1273 SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine in Adolescents.” New England Journal of Medicine, 11 Aug. 2021, doi:10.1056/nejmoa2109522.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Efficacy of Masks

Do Wearing Masks Really Prevent Coronavirus            For weeks, U.S. health authorities discouraged healthy Americans from wearing masks, believing they would do more harm than good. However, other countries such as China and South Korea have required all citizens to wear a mask when entering a public setting to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. But really how effective are these masks against the coronavirus? On April 3rd, Nature Medicine published an article describing their findings based off an experiment testing the efficacy of surgical face masks against coronavirus, influenza virus and rhinovirus.   Study Findings      Their results demonstrated that surgical masks were largely effective in reducing coronavirus transmission through respiratory droplets as well as aerosol particles. Three out of ten people who did not wear a mask were infected with the coronavirus through droplet particles. Out of eleven people w...
1 comment
Read more

Breakthrough Infections

 COVID-19 Breakthrough Infections     As of August 2021, a little over 50% of the U.S. population has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. However, despite the increasing number of vaccinated individuals and high efficacy of the vaccines, rare breakthrough cases have occurred. With the reports of breakthrough cases, or instances when people who are fully vaccinated get infected with COVID-19, many questions have arisen. How common are breakthrough infections? What are the symptoms? How severe are the cases? These questions are addressed in a peer-reviewed study investigating breakthrough cases among healthcare workers in Israel. The study was recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine on July 28, 2021.  About the Study     The study setting took place in the Sheba Medical Center, which is the largest medical center in Israel staffed with 12,586 healthcare workers. By April 28, 2021, 11,453 workers (91%) had been fully vaccinated with the ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Plasma for COVID-19 treatment

FDA Authorizes Plasma for COVID-19 Treatment                     COVID-19, which has been spreading across the globe since March, has affected the lives of Americans for over six months. Many people, including the President, are eager to eliminate the virus after a dreadful 6 months of rising cases and quarantine. To their dismay, hopes of eliminating the virus by Easter and then by August, seemed to turn into an unreachable dream for Americans. With cases rising and no sure vaccine or treatment for the virus, a future without COVID-19 seemed further and further away. Yet, this Sunday on August 23, 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized the first treatment for COVID-19: convalescent plasma. While the plasma has only been authorized for emergency use, many people see this authorization as progress towards eliminating the virus. However, others believe that the plasma is not as effective, and that the FDA was pres...
Post a Comment
Read more