In Key Milestone, Pfizer Begins Testing COVID-19 Vaccine In Children

Pfizer Inc PFE and BioNTech SE BNTX have started clinical trials of their jointly-developed COVID-19 vaccine with children, the companies said in a statement Thursday.

What Happened: The vaccine trials involve healthy participants aged 6 months to 11-years and the first participants have already received the shots.

The multinational pharmaceutical giant reportedly plans to enroll 144 children in the first phase of the trial.

In the first phase of the trial, Pfizer will identify the dosing levels for three age groups — between 6 months and 2 years old, 2 and 5-years old, and children aged from 5 through 11.

The trial will be initialized with a 10 microgram dose before progressing to higher doses. Participants can also opt for a 3 microgram dose. The adult dosage for the vaccine is two shots, each containing 30 micrograms.

Why It Matters: Children account for 20% of the United States population. Vaccinating children is vital to ending the pandemic as per public health officials and infectious disease experts, reported CNBC.

Moderna Inc MRNA is also said to have initiated testing of its vaccine in children under age 12. 

Johnson & Johnson JNJ plans to test its vaccine in infants and newborns after first testing it in older kids. Last month, Johnson & Johnson secured emergency approval for its single-shot COVID-19 vaccine for adults in the U.S. taking the number of available vaccines to three. Pfizer and Moderna secured a similar approval earlier.

Price Action: Pfizer shares closed nearly 0.2% higher at $35.67 on Thursday. On the same day, BioNTech shares closed 1.15% higher at $95.13 and rose 1.1% in the after-hours trading to $96.18.