Moderna Reveals How Effective Their Vaccine Is For Kids Under 6 Years Old

Moderna said its COVID-19 vaccine showed a strong immune response in children between the ages of 6 months and 6 years on Wednesday (March 23), NBC News reports.

The Massachusetts based pharmaceutical company said its two-dose vaccine was distributed to young children at 25 micrograms -- a quarter of the dose given to adults -- and produced an antibody response similar to doses in older age groups during recent clinical trials.

Moderna confirmed that the majority of side effects among the 6,900 children who participated were "mild or moderate" and the tests didn't bring any cases of a rare heart condition known as myocarditis.

The company did, however, specify that protection against the omicron variant was low with an efficacy of 42.7% in ages 6 months to 2 years and 37.5% among ages 2 to 6, but specified that the infections were mild and there were no examples of severe illness, hospitalization or death in relation to the trials.

Moderna officials confirmed they planned to submit data to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, as well as all other necessary regulators, in the coming weeks.

“Given the need for a vaccine against Covid-19 in infants and young children we are working with the U.S. FDA and regulators globally to submit these data as soon as possible," Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said in a statement obtained by NBC News.