UK approves Moderna vaccine for 12-17-year-olds

By Karim El-Bar

LONDON (AA) - Britain’s national health regulator announced on Tuesday that it has approved the Moderna vaccine for 12 to 17-year-olds.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said the vaccine is “safe and effective in this age group.”

MHRA Chief Executive Dr. June Raine said: “I am pleased to confirm that the COVID-19 vaccine made by Moderna has now been authorised in 12 to 17-year-olds.”

“We have in place a comprehensive safety surveillance strategy for monitoring the safety of all UK-approved COVID-19 vaccines and this surveillance will include the 12 to 17-year age group,” she added.

“It is for the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) to advise on whether this age group should be vaccinated with the COVID-19 vaccine made by Moderna as part of the deployment programme.”

A Department of Health spokesperson said: “We welcome the news that Moderna's vaccine has been approved as safe and effective for people aged 12 and over.”

“As has been the case with all other approvals, we will now be guided by the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) and have asked for its formal recommendation on whether to administer this vaccine to people aged 12 to 17.”

The UK already announced previously that all teens age 16-17 will be offered a dose of vaccine by Aug. 23.

The MHRA also previously approved the Pfizer vaccine for use in children aged 12-15.

British government data released on Tuesday showed that there were a further 26,852 cases across the UK over the past 24 hours. This brings the total number of cases since the start of the pandemic to over 6.3 million. There was also a further 170 deaths, bringing the total to 131,149.

This is the highest number of daily deaths since March 12, when 175 deaths were recorded.​​​​​​​

Up to and including Aug. 16, over 47 million Brits, 89.6%, have received their first dose of vaccine, and over 40.8 million Brits, 77.2%, their second dose.