The University of Oxford plans to enroll 300 children aged 6 to 17 in their bid to test out the COVID-19 vaccines it developed with AstraZeneca Plc.
In a statement by the university released on Saturday, it said that they plan to get as many as 240 kids to receive the vaccine in their first round of vaccinations that will take place this month.
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Apart from the COVID-19 vaccine, the remaining 60 children in the trial will receive a meningitis shot, which should produce similar side effects.
There will be a larger trial that will involve thousands of children to be conducted by the pharmaceutical company in the U.S. at a later date.
The trial’s lead investigator Andrew Pollard, in an interview with Bloomberg, said that investigators will test the shot on kids aged 12 to 17 first before they will move on to a younger age group.
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The study, he added, will look at two dosing regimens: One month and three months apart.
Pollard said they’ve been planning to do the pediatric trials since from the start in order “to make sure that we had the greatest opportunity for access across all ages” to the vaccine.
The phase II study will take place in three cities across the U.K. – London, Southampton, and Bristol – and assess the safety and immune responses in children. (ES)
