Johnson & Johnson announced Friday that it has begun testing its COVID-19 vaccine on adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17 years.
The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 2a study has been ongoing since September 2020 and was initially designed to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of single-dose and two-dose regimens of the J&J COVID-19 vaccine candidate in healthy adults aged 18 to 55 years, as well as adults aged 65 years and older.
The study now includes adolescents 12 to 17 years of age.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on adolescents, not just with the complications of the disease, but with their education, mental health, and wellbeing,” said Paul Stoffels, M.D., Vice Chairman of the Executive Committee and Chief Scientific Officer at Johnson & Johnson. “It is vital that we develop vaccines for everyone, everywhere, to help combat the spread of the virus with the goal to return to everyday life.”
The vaccine will first be tested in a small number of 16 and 17-year-olds before the study expands to a larger group of younger adolescents in a stepwise approach.
This trial is currently enrolling participants in Spain and the United Kingdom with enrollment slated to begin shortly in the United States, the Netherlands, and Canada, followed by Brazil and Argentina.
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