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Moderna aims for greenlight of latest COVID vaccine, designed for kids 6 months to 5 years old

The latest clinical trial data reveals the vaccine is 51% effective for youth 6 months to 2-years-old and 37% effective for kids 2-5-years-old.

SAN ANTONIO — Parents of children six months to 5 years old may soon have the option to vaccinate their little ones as Moderna is seeking approval for its latest coronavirus shot.

Clinical trial data showed two doses of the Moderna shot were 51% effective for children six months to 2 years old and 37% for kids 2 to 5 years old.

Gary Woodard is encouraged by the news. He has a 5-year-old son named Camden who’s been directly impacted by the coronavirus.

“He was a little sick, but it wasn’t too bad,” Woodard said. “I definitely want to protect my son.”

UT Health San Antonio’s Dr. Mandie Tibball Svatek expressed she’s confident in the data on Moderna’s latest KidCOVE study on the final age group ineligible for the coronavirus vaccine, which accounts for 18 million American children.  

She hopes parents consider vaccinating their children whenever the FDA and the CDC grant final approval.

“Me as a pediatric hospital assignment, I’m really excited because what we had ended up seeing during Omicron was an increased number of hospitalizations of children, especially young children,” Tibball-Svatek said. “We don’t want anybody hospitalized, we don’t want other families affected by COVID and we want to protect everybody in our community.”

On Tuesday, Metro Health raised the community’s coronavirus risk level to mild for the first time since early December as positive case numbers rise.

Metro Health data indicates 76.3% of Bexar County residents are fully vaccinated. 

COVID-19 has resulted in the reported deaths of 5,320 people in the San Antonio area. 

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