ModernaThe two-dose Covid vaccine, which was administered to children aged 6 to 12 months old and below, proved 44% to prevent infection from omicron. Children 2 to 5 years of age were about 38% more effective than the Covid vaccine.

According to biotech companies, none of the breakthrough cases caused severe illnesses from Covid. Moderna will request emergency approval from the Food and Drug Administration for the vaccine, said CEO Stephane Bancel in a statement.

Moderna is FDA-approved for adult vaccines, 18 years and over. Moderna also requested FDA approval for its vaccine to be approved by children aged 6-11 years old, according to the company’s announcement on Wednesday.

Highly mutant omicron has caused breakthrough infections by significantly reducing vaccine effectiveness. Its high water point of 94% was reached when shots were authorized for adults in Dec 2020. Moderna claimed that vaccine efficacy against the omicron in children below 6 years was similar to adults who have the approved vaccine.

Two 25-microgram doses of the vaccine were administered to children under 6 years old 28 days apart. This is much less than the 100-microgram shot given to adults. The doses for children 6-11 years old are two 50 mg.

Moderna stated that no safety issues were discovered in children younger than six years old. The company reported no cases or deaths from myocarditis and pericarditis. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that myocarditis and pericarditis, which are forms of inflammation in the heart, were seen at higher rates following the second doses of Moderna and Pfizer vaccines. This is a common condition in young men.

Moderna reported that the effects on young children after the second dose were less severe than those experienced by older kids. A fever of 100°F was reported in 17% to 2 years olds, and 38 degrees Celsius in children aged 2–5. Only a small number of children were able to experience a fever above 104 Fahrenheit or 40 Celsius in either age group.

Data on children under 12 years old are derived from an international pediatric clinical trial that included 11,700 children in both the U.S.A and Canada. There were 2,500 under-two-year-olds and 4,200 children 2-to-5 years old in the trial. This study was done in cooperation with the National Institutes of Health.

The only group of children under 5 years old that is not eligible for Covid vaccine in the U.S. are those below 5. Here, hospitalizations of children with Covid in this age range were five-fold higher than in the delta wave last year. according to the CDC.

FDA wanted to speed up the approval of the two first doses Pfizer BioNTechIssuing a vaccine to children aged 5 and under in response omicron, however the process was stalled because of the failure to meet the expectations. Pfizer and BioNTech will likely submit data for a third dose of this vaccine in the April.