A clinical trial is set to begin in the UK this month to investigate the effectiveness of the AstraZeneca vaccine, ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, on children. According to Our World in Data, over 22% of the UK population has received the first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, putting the country ahead of the global average, the European Union, and Germany. Similar to Germany’s vaccination plan, the UK is prioritizing the elderly and vulnerable for vaccination. However, with the current strategy of delaying the second dose to provide more people with the first dose, it is realistic that children and adolescents will also be vaccinated in a few months.
Currently, there is little data on how the AstraZeneca vaccine works in this age group. Therefore, AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford, who developed the vaccine together, have announced a clinical trial to test the vaccine on children. The trial will involve 300 participants between the ages of six and 17, with up to 240 receiving the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine, which has already been proven effective in adults. The remaining participants will receive a meningitis vaccine that produces similar reactions to a numb arm. This will ensure that the control group does not realize they have not received the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine.
The trial will be a simple blind, randomized Phase II study, and expert quotes will be included whenever available. With the UK’s current vaccination strategy, it is likely that children and adolescents will be vaccinated against Covid-19 in the near future. However, this clinical trial will provide crucial data on the effectiveness of the AstraZeneca vaccine in this age group, ensuring that the vaccine is safe and effective for all.
