Moderna seeks European approval for COVID-19 vaccine’s use in teens
A pensioner receives a shot of the Moderna coronavirus vaccine at the newly-opened mass vaccination center in Tokyo Monay, May 24, 2021. Japan opened mass-vaccination sites in two of the country’s biggest metropolitan areas, Tokyo and Osaka, with the goal of administering the shots to up to 15,000 elderly people a day. (Carl Carl Court/Pool Photo via AP)
maylen
(Reuters) — Moderna Inc said on Monday it has submitted an application to the European drugs regulator seeking conditional approval for its COVID-19 vaccine’s use in adolescents.
The company also said on Monday it has filed for its vaccine’s authorization in the younger age group with Health Canada and will file for an emergency use authorization with the U.S. FDA and other regulatory agencies around the world.
Moderna’s vaccine is already being used in the European Union for people over 18 years of age and vaccinating children has been considered important for reaching herd immunity against the coronavirus.
The EU last month cleared Pfizer and German partner BioNTech SE’s vaccine for use in children as young as 12.
Moderna’s two-shot vaccine last month was shown to be effective in adolescents aged 12-17 and showed no new or major safety problems in a clinical trial.
