Moderna seeks COVID-19 vaccine emergency use authorization for ages 12-17

Public health physician Dr. Sarah Mahtadi administers the COVID-19 Moderna vaccine to a local resident at the Long Beach Convention Center in California on March 8. Moderna said Thursday it is asking the Food and Drug Administration to use the vaccine for children ages 12-17. Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI Moderna said last month during its earnings report that studies showed the drug to be 96% effective on children ages 12-17. File photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI Moderna said it has already asked for emergency use authorization for its vaccine on the same age group in Canada and the European Union. File photo by Aaron Josefczyk/UPI Moderna said teenagers showed no serious side effects while using the vaccine. File photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI Moderna's coronavirus vaccine is already being used on adults in the United States, Canada, the European Union and is listed as an approved emergency use drug by the World Health Organization. File photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI

June 10 (UPI) -- Moderna, Inc. announced Thursday it is approaching the Food and Drugs Administration for emergency use authorization for its COVID-19 vaccine in children 12 to 17.

The drug company said in May its studies showed its coronavirus vaccines were 96% effective in that age group. In its first-quarter earnings report last month, Moderna said teenagers tested showed no serious side effects after receiving the shot.

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"We are encouraged that the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine was highly effective at preventing COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2 infection in adolescents," Moderna's CEO Stephane Bancel said in a statement. "We remain committed to helping to end the COVID-19 pandemic."

Bancel said Moderna has already filed for authorization with Health Canada and the European Medicines Agency. Bancel said Moderna will continue to win approval from regulatory agencies around the world for the age group.

Moderna has received emergency authorization for use of its COVID-19 vaccine for adults in the United States, Canada, Israel, the European Union, Britain and numerous other countries. The World Health Organization has Moderna's drug name on its emergency use listing.