Moderna seeks US approval to vaccinate teens against COVID-19

US-based pharmaceutical company Moderna on Wednesday said that they have requested the Food and Drug Administration for an emergency use authorisation of COVID-19 vaccine to be given to people in their teens.

Along with Pfizer, Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine is already being used for all people above 18 years of age. Earlier, Moderna submitted a request application to the Canadian and European health regulators for approval of COVID-19 vaccination in teens.

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Pfizer on May 10 received approval to use the COVID-19 vaccine on kids below 18 years of age. 

Stephen Bancel, the CEO of Moderna said, “We are encouraged that the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine was highly effective at preventing COVID and SAR COV-2 infections at adolescents.”

Children with COVID-19 only develop mild symptoms or no symptoms but are at risk of becoming seriously ill. Moderna’s two-shot is around 90% effective against symptomatic COVID-19 and 95 % effective against severe disease. There were no specific symptoms apart from headache, fatigue, and body ache.

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 Joe Biden, President of the United States, has already set a target that at least 70% of the adults should be vaccinated by July 4. As of June 10, 64% of the population has been partially vaccinated, as per the data.