By BERNAMA / Pic by AFP

LOS ANGELES, April 29 — Moderna on Thursday asked the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to authorise its COVID-19 vaccine for children 6 months to under 6 years of age, reported Xinhua.

The two-dose vaccine was about 51 per cent effective against infection from the Omicron variant in children from 6 months to under 2 years old, and about 37 per cent effective among 2 to under 6 years old, according to Moderna.

Children under 5 are the only group in the United States ineligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.

If authorised by the FDA, Moderna’s vaccine for children 6 months to under 6 years of age is given as two 25-microgram doses four weeks apart. The dosage is a quarter of that given to adults.