Nashville News Channel 4 recently spoke with Clinical Research Associates, Inc. patients in pediatric COVID vaccine trials, as well as an investigator in the clinical trial. The FDA will soon meet to discuss whether to authorize the vaccine for children ages 6 months to 5 years, and more data will be needed before then. Watch the story below to hear about why this family decided to enroll in the trial. This story was originally posted on WSMV’s website here. Sign up for a pediatric COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial here. 

COVID vaccine trials continue for young children

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) – A local health care facility says they still need more data when it comes to COVID-19 vaccines for the youngest children.

Clinical Research Associates said they have a tremendous number of families that want to enroll their kids in the Pfizer vaccine study. Nashville appears to be one of the highest recruiting sites.

10-year-old, Silas Martin, told his family he wanted to be a part of the study.

“We had watched, I think, it was an NBC Nightly News one night and they had done a talk about how the drugs study was going on,” said Martha Martin. “A few weeks later, we’re sitting around the dinner table and Silas says, “I would like to enroll in that study.”

“I want to get the vaccine,” Silas told his mother. “I want everything to return back to normal.”

Silas joined the study last summer and originally got the placebo in the blinded study; but went back later and got the real shot.

Pfizer said on Tuesday they now hope to show U.S. regulators how well its COVID-19 vaccine works in the youngest age group, which is 6 months to 5 years old, by late May or early June.

Clinical Research Associates says they strive for the study to be diverse, acknowledging black and Latino communities are usually more at risk of COVID-19.

The research group believes COVID-19 is still a threat to children.

“Black and Hispanic children have the greatest burden of disease. 52% of all of these thousand deaths are in those communities,” said Michael Caldwell, a clinical investigator. “COVID is the number one infectious disease cause of death of children if you compare to other diseases that harm children.”

The FDA has set tentative dates in June to publicly review data on COVID-19 vaccines for kids under 5, from Moderna and possibly Pfizer.

For more information on these trials and how to enroll, visit here.