CASPER, Wyo. — Wyoming’s senior United States Senator sought answers to how the federal government is ensuring that a possible COVID-19 vaccine would be safe for children during a Senate health committee hearing.
“Enzi pointed out that there are unique challenges in pediatric vaccine research because of the safety and ethical concerns about enrolling kids in trials,” Enzi’s office said in Wednesday release. “He also noted there can be differences in how their maturing immune systems work compared to adults.”
Enzi asked Surgeon General Jerome Adams what the process to develop a COVID-19 vaccine for children looks like. Enzi’s office said the senator received the following response from Adams:
The initial vaccine trials will be on people 18 and up, and this is the way we’ve done it for other vaccines that have been developed in the past. We will make sure it is safe and effective in adults and then we will slowly start to move down in age.
The next round, I anticipate, will be ages 12 to 18 and then after that, if it continues to be safe and effective, we will test in people younger than that. That’s the way we’ve done it for every vaccine because we can’t just assume that something that is safe and effective in an adult will be safe and effective in a child. Surgeon General Jerome Adams according to Sen. Enzi’s office
Adams also said that ensuring adult feel confident about the safety of potential COVID-19 vaccines is key to ensuring they receive a vaccine when one is available, according to the release.
“He said because the initial round of vaccinations will not be available for children, it will be crucial to have a higher percentage of adults getting vaccinated to get closer to the level of herd immunity needed to break transmission of disease,” Enzi’s office added. “Adams said more than 4 million children are currently behind on childhood vaccinations and stressed the importance of preventing the diseases we can prevent right now. He urged every child to get a flu vaccine this year.”
Enzi’s comments during the hearing can be heard in this video:
