Moderna seeks approval of Covid-19 vaccine for teens in Europe, Canada

US biotech firm Moderna said on Monday it was seeking conditional approval for use of its Covid-19 vaccine on teens in the European Union and Canada, in a boost for inoculation campaigns as the summer begins.

The firm said it also plans to file for emergency approval with the Food and Drug Administration in the US, where the Pfizer/BioNTech jab is already being administered to adolescents age 12 and up.

“We are pleased to announce that we have submitted for conditional marketing approval of our Covid-19 vaccine with the European Medicines Agency for use in adolescents in the European Union,” Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel said.


“We are encouraged that the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine was highly effective at preventing Covid-19 and SARS-CoV-2 infection in adolescents,” he said in a statement.

“We have filed for authorisation with Health Canada and we will file for an emergency use authorisation with the US FDA and regulatory agencies around the world for this important younger age population.”

Teens are much less susceptible to Covid than older age groups, and the main reason to vaccinate them is to drive down transmission. But extremely rare cases of severe Covid can still occur, as can a post-viral complication called multisystem inflammatory syndrome.

The two-shot Moderna regime is around 90% effective against symptomatic Covid and 95% effective against severe disease.