DETROIT – Because children younger than 12 cannot get vaccinated against COVID yet, there are many concerns about COVID spreading through them.
Some children in Metro Detroit are participating in a trial of Moderna’s COVID vaccine on those younger than 12.
In May, Moderna asked the federal government to start the process so it could test its vaccine on children between the ages of 6 months and 11 years old. Henry Ford Hospital has been Michigan’s test site and on Wednesday, children received their first dose of either the vaccine or a placebo.
Alston and Avery are 6 years old, Jacob is 9 years old and Adrian is 8 years old. They are the adopted children of Misti Rice and Jill Hartwig of Rochester Hills.
“What was important to me was to protect them and to protect their classmates and to protect the community and so for them to take part in the trial gets us to that point,” Hartwig said.
Henry Ford’s interim Pediatrics Chair Dr. Tisa Johnson Hooper said the children are brave and vital.
“This study is gonna help us determine the safety and dose efficacy of children 11 and younger,” Hooper said.
The process is lengthy and it could take another 15 months before researchers know if the vaccine will be made available to children.
Read: Henry Ford Health System enrolling children for Moderna COVID vaccine study