There are many children’s vaccine trials that are underway.

What to learn more about them?

The Jamaica vaccine rollout has begun for adults with plans to inoculate children with an approved COVID-19 vaccine at a later date.

Here’s what you need to know about COVID-19 children’s vaccine trials

The government has inoculated over 26,000 people since the start of the Jamaica vaccine rollout on 10^th March 2021. Those who have received the COVID-19 vaccine are those who have been identified as priority groups ahead of the vaccination rollout.

A noticeable absence from the priority groups to be vaccinated are children.

Children are not currently part of the Jamaica vaccination schedule because children were not included in the COVID vaccine trials for the current vaccines.

In fact, COVID vaccine trials on children have only just begun with Moderna, Pfizer and Oxford/AstraZeneca announcing that they will begin children’s vaccine trials.

About the COVID-19 Children’s Vaccine Trials

Moderna vaccine trial in children is expected to enrol 6,750 children in the USA and Canada.

Pfizer children’s vaccine trials aim to enrol 4,644 children in the USA and Europe.

The Oxford/AstraZeneca children’s vaccine trial will enrol 300 children aged 6-17 years old in the UK, with up to 240 children receiving the vaccine.

Both the Moderna and Pfizer trials will include children 6 months to 11 years with Moderna going up to age 12 years old.

The children’s vaccine trials are expected to continue through this year. If the outcomes of the trials are positive, the aim is to get the children’s vaccines approved in 2022.

It is not clear what is the duration of the Oxford/AstraZeneca children’s vaccine trial.

Why children’s vaccine trials?

The trials are being conducted to assess how safe and effective the vaccines are in children.

Each company is trying to assess the correct doses of the vaccines that can be given to children and how they will be tolerated.

The COVID vaccines being used in the trials are not new vaccines but vaccines that were already developed and are currently being used for adults.

This means the Moderna, Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines which are administered as a two-shot vaccine, will be administered the same way in children.

The objective is to establish the safety and efficacy of the vaccines for children.

What does this mean for the Jamaica vaccine rollout?

A successful COVID vaccine in children has implications for the reopening of schools.

Currently, schools have been closed due to the increasing number of cases in both schools and the general population.

According to the latest order, schools are to remain closed except for those students sitting exit exams.

There is no guarantee that Jamaican schools will reopen for normal face-to-face sessions this year or next year.

We know from experience through multiple attempts to reopen schools over the past year, that until the spread of COVID-19 is controlled, schools cannot operate as they used to.

However, these COVID vaccine trials bring the possibility of increasing the number of people who can be vaccinated and, therefore, stopping the spread of the virus by including children in this population.

The government aims to inoculate 65% of the population by March 2022, with the first 32% being inoculated by the end of the second phase of the current vaccine rollout.

According to STATIN population data, children between 0-18 years old account for 14% of our population.

Taking this into account, if the children’s vaccine trials are successful and approved to be administered in the under 18 year age group, Jamaica could be able to inoculate approximately 80% of the population by 2022/23.

Through COVAX, the global vaccine sharing initiative, Jamaica has procured the AstraZeneca and Moderna vaccines for its adult population.

If the children’s vaccine trials are successful and approval is given from the relevant regulated bodies, it is expected that Jamaica will procure approved COVID vaccines for its child population.

As many countries are still at the beginning of their vaccination rollout, any dreams of returning to normalcy should have at least a one to two-year timeline.

The great thing about this news is at least we can dream, we see better days ahead.

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The post COVID-19 Children’s Vaccine Trials appeared first on Childhood Central.

March 11, 2021, marked one year post-COVID-19 was declared a pandemic and it has disrupted all aspects of our lives. One year on, we have seen and experienced the changes that came with the pandemic.

We also know that things will remain changed for some time. We have adjusted the way we live our lives, our routines and our habits. We now know that we shouldn’t leave the house without a mask, because it is one of the best ways to reduce the spread of the virus.

We now know that we have to maintain our distance from friends, family and people we meet in the streets, and that hand sanitisers are the next best thing to soap and water for keeping our hands clean.

We have also developed ways for coping with the barrage of information on COVID-19 and relaying what is important to our children.

Some of us are still working from home and many of us are struggling to juggle both work and home-schooling responsibilities since our children have not resumed full-time face-to-face classes.

The first case of COVID-19 in Jamaica was confirmed on 10^th March 2020, since then, the government has taken measures to stop the spread of the virus. One year post-COVID-19, where are we with COVID-19 and our children?

One Year Post COVID-19, Where Are We Now?

As of March 12, 2020, the data from the JAMCOVID website of the Ministry of Health and Wellness, show that 22,265 people have been infected with COVID-19. Of that number, 1,144 are children between the ages 0 to 9 years old and 1,691 are between the ages of 10 to 19.

Whilst the number of confirmed cases passed the 10,000 mark in November 2020, the number of deaths has remained low. Unfortunately, 409 people have lost their lives as a result of the virus, of that number, 1 child died in the 0 to 9 age group and 3 in the 10-19 age group.

Based on these numbers, the COVID-19 infection rate in children is 12.7% while the rate of infection in the general child population is 0.35%.

These numbers in Jamaica are consistent with global data on the infection and transmission of the virus in children which show a lower rate of transmission and spreading of the virus.

According to the Centre for Disease Control in the USA, less than 10% of COVID-19 cases were in children 5-17 years old.

A study in Iceland showed that children were half as likely as adults to spread and transmit the virus and in the United Kingdom, a report shows that younger children were less susceptible to being infected with the virus and less likely to spread it to other children and adults; additionally, if infected, children between ages 1-18 had lower rates of hospitalisation and death than other groups.

One year post-COVID-19, the increased number of positive cases has caused schools to remain closed. After spikes in the population in some schools that were approved for face-to-face reopening, the government decided that the risk was too great and ordered that all schools discontinue face-to-face schooling except for those that cater to children who are sitting exit exams.

This order will be in effect until the 22^nd March, 2021. While parents hope for the best, there is no telling if and when children will be able to return to the classroom for this year.

Are Vaccines the Answer?

Whilst the launch of the vaccination programme provides some optimism that schools could return to face-to-face, it is yet to be seen if this will be the case for this year.

Although teachers are on the list of priority groups to receive the vaccine, there is still a worrying rate of vaccine hesitancy among the population.

A PAHO study showed that only 35% of Jamaicans were willing to take the vaccine. If the government does not succeed in convincing the population of the efficacy and safety of the vaccine, then all the efforts to bring the pandemic under control will be in vain and our children will possibly miss another full year of school.

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