The anti Covid vaccination campaign for children aged 12 to 15 has also started in Italy. But the immunization of the smallest, silent spreaders of the virus, will probably be the only tool at our disposal to definitively stem the pandemic. Researchers from the University of North Carolina, Weill Cornell Medicine and the New York Presbyterian have no doubts about it, who experimented with Moderna serum and a new protein-based vaccine in a preclinical research on 16 baby macaques, recording strong antibody responses. and no adverse events.
Covid vaccine for children: fears and uncertainties of parents. The advice of the pediatrician
by Elena Bozzola
“Safe and effective vaccines for young children will help limit the spread of Covid because we know children can pass the virus to others, whether they get sick or remain asymptomatic,” he explains. Sallie Permar, pediatrician at the head of the New York Presbyterian. “While children have had relatively low rates of serious illness, more have died from Covid than from seasonal flu or chickenpox, and many others have negatively impacted the measures put in place to curb the disease. diffusion. Therefore, young children deserve protection from Covid ”. This is why the American Academy of Pediatrics has also sent a letter to the White House and federal officials urging the Biden administration to “use every available measure to obtain authorization for vaccines in children as soon as possible, safely” . Now the results published on Science Immunology they go precisely in this direction.
To evaluate childhood vaccination against Sars-Cov-2, the researchers immunized two groups of eight 2.2-month-old rhesus macaques, which is roughly 9 months old in humans, with two doses four weeks apart. ‘from each other. Four puppies from the California National Primate Research Center received the Moderna serum a mRna and the same number the new vaccine formulated by the Infectious Disease Research Institute, not yet approved for human use, which instead of the genetic code directly contains the spike protein. principle on which Novavax is based, according to which the reports released by the company speak of an efficacy of 90%. And both vaccines elicited a high amount of neutralizing antibodies and spike protein-specific T cell responses in primates, while they did not generate helper T type 2 responses, which may be detrimental to the vaccine‘s efficacy and safety. newborns.
Covid, the green light for the Pfizer vaccine on adolescents aged 12 to 15 arrives
by Donatella Zorzetto
“The level of antibodies we observed was comparable to that developed by adult macaques, even though the doses were 30 micrograms instead of 100,” explains the immunologist. Kristina De Paris of the Unc Children’s Research Institute. “With the Moderna vaccine, we also observed specific responses to T cells, which we know are important in limiting the severity of the disease.” But above all, “we had to be sure to check the reaction on helper lymphocytes – whose purpose is to secrete cytokines during an immune response – so we analyzed the plasma of all the macaques to be sure that neither vaccine produced such a response. . We must certainly continue our research on this, but so far we have no evidence that this happens ”, thus supporting the advancement of the clinical trial even under 1 year of age.
But more than scientific research, according to Dr. Permar, it could be “the parents who represent an obstacle in the vaccination effort”. In a commentary for InsideSources.com, the senior author of the study wrote that “it will be up to us pediatricians to provide parents with the complete and accurate information they need to make them confidently say yes to the gift of vaccine immunity for children. their children. Even those who were already in favor expressed concern about the long-term effects on children. But once these vaccines are seen in general context, just like many others we already take for granted, their benefits will far outweigh the risks. While young children may not spread Covid as quickly as adults, if not vaccinated they will continue to be a reservoir for the disease. Parents want to do what’s best for their children’s health and well-being and this is certainly the time to listen to their concerns. But as a pediatrician I find that the reluctance of some only indicates a lack of information ”.
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