Vaccination against Covid-19: Moderna approved for 12-17 year olds by the European regulator

To intensify the vaccination of the youngest, France should soon be able to count on a second serum.

After Pfizer, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) approved this Friday the use of the anti-Covid Moderna vaccine for 12-17 year olds.

“The EMA's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has recommended to grant an extension of indication to the COVID-19 vaccine Spikevax (formerly Covid-19 Vaccine Moderna) to include its use in children aged 12 to 17 years, ”said the European regulator in a press release.

As with adults, administration of Spikevax to 12-17 year olds will be given as two injections into the muscles of the upper arm, four weeks apart.

The effects of the vaccine from the American biotech company Moderna were studied in a study involving 3,732 children aged 12 to 17 years.

This study showed that the serum produced an antibody response comparable in 12 to 17 year olds to that seen in young adults aged 18 to 25.

Vaccination open to 12-17 year olds since mid-June

The Pfizer / BioNTech alliance vaccine, using the same mRNA technology as the Moderna vaccine, had already been authorized as early as 12 years old in the United States, Canada and the 27 countries of the European Union.

Adolescents generally develop less severe forms of Covid-19 than older people, but they are not immune to infection and participate in the transmission of the virus within the population.

This is why their immunization is necessary in order to help stop the epidemic, according to experts.

To read also "How far back do we have?"

: the vaccination of 12-17 year olds begins this Tuesday and is debated by parents

In France, the vaccination campaign for 12-17 year olds began on June 15.

Five million adolescents are affected.

To be vaccinated, they must have an authorization signed by both parents.

If one of the two is absent, the second must complete it and "undertake on the honor of having previously obtained the consent of the absent parent and co-holder of parental authority", according to the Ministry of Health.

As for the consent of the vaccinated person, it is obtained orally, but not in writing, during “the preparatory interview for vaccination, by the health professional”.

The ministry indicates that it has followed the recommendations of the Ethics Committee: each minor aged 12 and over will receive “clear” information and adapt to his age before receiving the injection.