A recent study published by the Oxford website states that the COVID-19 vaccine Phase 2 trials for children should commence in order to not delay “potential direct and indirect benefits of the pediatric vaccine.”
Even after children being in the highly vulnerable category and having an important role in spreading the virus, the trials on them are only about to begin while the clinical tests on adults have reached the Phase 3, the report said.
“Direct COVID-19 impact upon children is greater than that observed for other pathogens which have effective pediatric vaccines,” the study observed, adding that the “role of children in SARS-CoV-2 transmission has been underappreciated.”
Further, the study opined that more delay in reaching Phase 2 clinical trials in children would create much uncertainty for the entire world in recovering from the pandemic and the unnecessary gap will affect the education, health and emotional well-being of children as well.
Most of the researchers in this study are associated with the field of paediatrics and they suggested that the results obtained from the Phase 3 adult clinical trials indicate the importance of pediatric Phase 2 tests in children.
The study also stated that by starting phase 2 trials in children it would help in assessing the safety, immunogenicity and efficacy of advanced COVID-19 vaccines on a broad spectrum of the population base.
“Ensuring the acceleration of vaccine clinical trials to warp speed for children will be critical in making this a future reality,” the study concluded.
