Next up in hunt for COVID-19 vaccine: Testing shots in kids

global hunt for a COVID-19 vaccine for kids is only just beginning — a lagging start that has some U.S. pediatricians worried y may t kw if any shots work for young children in time for next school year.

Older ults may be most vulnerable to coronavirus, but ending pandemic will require vaccinating children, too. Last week, Pfizer Inc. received permission to test its vaccine in U.S. kids as young as 12, one of only a handful of attempts around world to start exploring if any experimental shots being pushed for ults also can protect children.

“I just figured more people y have to do tests on, quicker y can put out a vaccine and people can be safe and healthy,” said 16-year-old Katelyn Evans, who became first teen to get an injection in Pfizer study at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.

Multiple vaccine candidates are in final-st studies in tens of thousands of ults, and scientists are hopeful that next few months will bring evidence that at least some of m are safe and effective eugh for widespre use.

But when first shots arrive, y're unlikely to be recommended for children. Vaccines can’t be given to youngsters unless y’ve been tested in ir group -- a major hurdle in efforts to reopen schools and resume more rmal activities that are critical to families' well-being.

“ public doesn’t understand that,” said Dr. Evan Anderson of Emory University, who has been pushing for pediatric testing of COVID-19 vaccines. While he’s encourd by Pfizer’s study in olescents, he finds it “very concerning” that children younger than 12 may t have a vaccine by next fall.

Children represent about 10% of COVID-19 cases documented in U.S. And while children are far less likely than ults to get seriously ill, about 120 have died in U.S. alone, according to a tally by American Acemy of Pediatrics. That’s about how many U.S. children die from flu in an aver year. ditionally, a small number have developed a serious inflammatory condition linked to coronavirus.

Overall, Anderson says COVID-19's impact on children is greater than some or diseases that require routine pediatric vaccinations.

Aside from ir own health risks is still unanswered question about how easily children can infect ors. In a letter to federal health officials, AAP cited recent evidence that those over 10 may spre virus just as easily as ults do.

d missing school and or factors unique to children, and it’s unethical “to allow children to take on great burdens during this pandemic but t have opportunity to benefit from a vaccine,” Dr. Sara Goza, president of pediatrics acemy, wrote.

Globally, pediatric studies are only hesitantly emerging. In China, Sivac and SiPharm have opened studies that can test children as young as 3.

A British study of a vaccine by AstraZeneca allows for testing of a low dose in certain children but company says it won't be recruiting youngsters until it has “sufficient” safety data in ults.

In U.S., Moderna Inc., Johnson & Johnson and vavax all hope to begin some pediatric research later in year, in varying groups.

Doing so is critical, said Dr. Robert Frenck, who directs Vaccine Research Center at Cincinnati Children's.

“If we immunize olescents -- and potentially move down into younger children -- we’re going to have effect of keeping those children from getting infected. But n also y don’t bring infection home to parents and grandparents,” he said.

Frenck is finding lots of interest in Pfizer’s olescent testing, with 90 families seeking more information in just a week after his team issued a call for 16- and 17-year-old volunteers. researchers plan to enroll 12- to 15-year-olds soon.

Katelyn, suburban Cincinnati volunteer, doesn’t kw if she got a dummy shot or real vaccine. But high school junior is excited to be part of study. And with science class still fresh, she grasped researchers’ explanation of how Pfizer’s vaccine works -- using a piece of genetic code to train body to recognize if coronavirus comes along.

“I’ve learned about DNA and RNA and all that stuff in biology in freshman year. And I guess I didn’t really kw, like, how it applied to real world until w,” she said.

It makes sense to start pediatric testing in teenrs and grually work down in , Frenck said, because olescents usually receive ult-sized doses of or vaccines -- and so far with Pfizer’s shots, serious safety problems haven’t emerged in ult testing.

Assuming Pfizer’s shot is proven to work in ults, Frenck said key will be if vaccine revs up olescents’ immune systems same way -- without different side effects. He said if all goes well, it’s possible scientists may have an answer about 12-and-older group by spring.

But younger children need ir own testing. Anderson, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, said those studies may be more complex because smaller tots may need different doses or, because of ir typically more robust immune systems, show different reactions to shots.

“It is quite important for us to begin process because this will take some time to do studies right way,” he said.

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