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At a White House coronavirus briefing on January 29, Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden’s chief medical advisor, said he hoped to see children vaccinated by late spring or early summer, as pharmaceutical companies began clinical trials. Now St. Louisans can be a part of one led by Washington University, as its researchers will study how children react to the vaccines this spring.
One trial will be for the Moderna vaccine in children 12 years old and under. The other trial, from Johnson & Johnson, will test the vaccine in children from birth to 17 years old. Families interested in participating can fill out this form. (Wash. U. and Saint Louis University also recently completed enrollment for clinical trials of Johnson & Johnson’s one-dose COVID-19 vaccine.) At this time, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has only authorized the emergency use of Pfizer and BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine for 16 and older and Moderna’s for people 18 and older.
"In our clinical trials [in adults], initially, we see people in-person once a month," says Dr. Rachel Presti, a Washington University associate professor of medicine and medical director of its Infectious Diseases Clinical Research Unit. "Volunteers keep electronic diaries and check in with us once a week electronically with how they are feeling. During clinical trials, volunteers' vitals are checked and their side effects are monitored."
Washington University is also enrolling St. Louis adults of diverse backgrounds for clinical trials on a two-dose regimen of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. J&J has said it's confident in the safety and efficacy of its one-dose shot but wants additional information as to whether a one-dose or two-dose regimen provides the best immunity against COVID-19. (Persons interested in volunteering for the two-dose clinical trial may e-mail idcru@wustl.edu, call 314-454-0058, or visit the Division of Infectious Diseases clinical trials website.)
"People who volunteer for clinical trials are amazing," says Presti. "We couldn't do the research without them."
