Note: No Q&A tomorrow.  Send questions along if you have them.

Question: Do you know how we can enroll our daughter in a COVID vaccine trial? She’s 5 now, and I understand that Pfizer, Moderna and J&J all need to be tested on kids before they can be approved for kids.

Answer: Because children’s immune systems differ from adult’s systems, it’s especially important to have rigorous safety and efficacy evaluation among children (see Q&A of 12/9).  Generally, after safety/efficacy has been proven for adults, trials expand to include older children. As safety, efficacy, and dosing is proven for older children, studies enroll younger children.  Moderna and Pfizer have fully enrolled their current pediatric trials, which include children ages 12+.  Data are expected later this Spring, at which point younger children will be enrolled in the study.  AstraZeneca started its vaccine trial of children ages 6+ in the UK earlier this month.  And Johnson & Johnson is expected to begin enrolling children soon. All that to say, there’s not yet the opportunity for your daughter to be enrolled in a COVID vaccine trial in the United States.  To keep tabs on opportunities, the best place to look (to my knowledge) is clinicaltrials.gov.  The next best place to look is the vaccine developer’s websites themselves: AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, Novovax, and Pfizer.  Finally, it’s always good to talk with your pediatrician, who can also likely identify potential opportunities.