The company who manufactures the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine have started testing the vaccine on children.
People under the age of 18 as yet aren’t eligible to receive a dose of the vaccine in the NWT.
Moderna Inc. is running two studies. One is testing 6,750 children under the age of 12 in Canada and the United States, giving them two doses of the vaccine 28 days apart.
The children will be monitored for symptoms and side effects.
In a separate study that began in December, Moderna began testing its vaccine on adolescents between 12 and 18 years old.
Health Canada approved the vaccine on December 23 for Canadians aged 18 and older. The first doses of the vaccine arrived in the NWT on December 28.
The Moderna vaccine does not contain any actual COVID-19 virus. Rather, it is made from messenger RNA, or mRNA, which tells the body to produce proteins that mirror those of the COVID-19 virus.
That introduces the protein into the body so immune cells can learn to recognize it and produce antibodies against it. In the event someone comes into contact with the virus but has been vaccinated, the body will be better prepared to fight against the virus.
As of March 15th, 12,389 residents have received two doses of the Moderna vaccine, and are considered fully vaccinated against COVID-19, over one third of NWT adults.
So far, 19,685 first doses have been delivered to NWT residents, up over 2,500 from this time last week.
The timeline for full herd immunity, 75 per cent fully vaccinated, in the NWT is still on track for late April. There are approximately 34,400 adults in the NWT.
