Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine prompted a strong immune response and was generally well-tolerated in children aged 6 to 11 years, the company said Monday, citing interim data from a study.
The company said it planned to submit the data to U.S., European and other regulators soon.
Moderna said the data showed two 50 microgram doses of the vaccine, half the strength of the doses used in the vaccine given to adults, generated virus-neutralizing antibodies in children.
The majority of side effects were mild or moderate in severity, the company said. The most common solicited adverse events were fatigue, headache, fever and injection site pain.
Earlier this month, Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech asked regulators in the United States to allow the use of its COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 5 to 11.
The vaccine, which is already authorized in 12 to 15-year-olds and fully approved for ages 16 and up, has been shown to induce a strong immune response in the target age group in a 2,268-participant clinical trial, the companies said on Sept. 20.
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was authorized in kids aged 12-15 roughly a month after the companies filed for authorization.
