--- description: Moderna plans to submit a request to authorize the vaccine for children ages 6 to 11 years old title: Moderna Reports COVID-19 Vaccine Safe and Efficacious for Kids image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt415d8faacc9feee8/698a1e14457a52ecd0d65a07/GettyImages-1332309491.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Health](/section/health/) ## Health Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [COVID-19](/tag/covid-19/) ## COVID-19 Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Moderna Reports COVID-19 Vaccine Safe and Efficacious for Kids  by [Alice Park](/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Oct 25, 2021 3:44 PM CUT  A nurse prepares a dose of the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine as people from ages 25 to 30 start their vaccination phase with the Moderna novel COVID-19 vaccine against the Coronavirus disease in Medellin - Antioquia, Colombia on August 2, 2021\. (Photo by:Miyer Juana/Long Visual Press/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) A nurse prepares a dose of the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine as people from ages 25 to 30 start their vaccination phase with the Moderna novel COVID-19 vaccine against the Coronavirus disease in Medellin - Antioquia, Colombia on August 2, 2021\. (Photo by:Miyer Juana/Long Visual Press/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)Long Visual Press/Universal Imag—Miyer Juana/Long Visual Press  by [Alice Park](/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Oct 25, 2021 3:44 PM CUT Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine is safe and efficacious for children ages 6 to 11 years old who recieve two half doses, the company [said today](https://investors.modernatx.com/news-releases/news-release-details/moderna-announces-positive-top-line-data-phase-23-study-covid-19 "undefined"). That’s based on the results of its KidCOVE study, which involved more than 4,700 kids in that age group. The children participating in Moderna’s trial were randomly assigned to receive two half doses of the vaccine or two shots of a placebo. Those who got the vaccine generated adequate virus-fighting antibodies that met the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) requirements for efficacy, and the vaccine produced an immune response in nearly all the children. Most of the side effects after vaccination were mild to moderate, including fatigue, fever, headache and pain at the injection site. Meanwhile, an independent FDA panel will review data on the [Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine](https://time.com/5949859/pfizer-vaccine-children-under-12/ "undefined") in children ages 5 to 11 on Oct. 26\. The age range in KidCOVE varies slightly, given that Pfizer-BioNTech included children as young as 5\. Moderna is continuing to study younger children and will report results on kids ages 2 to 5 and 6 months to under 2 years in the coming months. The FDA and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently [authorized a half dose](https://time.com/6109275/cdc-panel-recommends-moderna-jj-boosters/ "undefined") of Moderna’s vaccine as a booster for certain adults over 18 years old. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6110111/moderna-covid-vaccine-safe-kids/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6110111/moderna-covid-vaccine-safe-kids/"},"headline":"Moderna Reports COVID-19 Vaccine Safe and Efficacious for Kids","datePublished":"2021-10-25T15:44:05.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T10:27:31.863Z","description":"The company plans to submit a request to authorize the vaccine for children ages 6 to 11 years old","url":"https://time.com/6110111/moderna-covid-vaccine-safe-kids/","keywords":["COVID-19"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt415d8faacc9feee8/698a1e14457a52ecd0d65a07/GettyImages-1332309491.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alice Park","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/alice-park/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt415d8faacc9feee8/698a1e14457a52ecd0d65a07/GettyImages-1332309491.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"COVID-19 Vaccination in Colombia","caption":"COVID-19 Vaccination in Colombia","creditText":"Long Visual Press/Universal Imag—Miyer Juana/Long Visual Press","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/covid-19/","name":"COVID-19"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6110111/moderna-covid-vaccine-safe-kids/","name":"Moderna Reports COVID-19 Vaccine Safe and Efficacious for Kids"}}]}] ```