Immune responses to infections and vaccines may be different in children, compared to adults. A careful evaluation of novel vaccines in the pediatric population is therefore warranted.
Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna are reporting that their mRNA COVID-19 vaccines appear to be safe and efficacious in 12- to 16-year-olds, consistent with results reported for adults.
Many respiratory viral infections, such as the seasonal flu, target the two most immune-vulnerable populations, younger children and seniors.
Preliminary results from a study underway in Montreal suggest 41% of 1,000 children surveyed so far, largely based on participants from the West Island and the Plateau, have gone to get tested to see if they were infected at the time with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Of those, 99% tested negative. In this surveyed group, children from 10 households also had family members test positive for SARS-CoV-2, yet only one child from these households tested positive.
Today, Canada’s COVID-19 Immunity Task Force (CITF) announces its support for a research project that will estimate how many children and teens in Montreal have been infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. This $720,000 investment will allow us to better understand how much virus transmission has occurred to children and teens, and [...]