LOCAL CHILDREN PARTICIPATING IN COVID-19 VACCINE TRIAL
Two South African children are participating in a worldwide clinical trial to test the effect of the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine.
The two, both 17 years of age, received their first dose at the Sefako Makgatho University in GaRankuwa on Friday. The one teenager is a boy and the other a girl.
All participants across the world will receive two doses of the vaccine. They won’t know whether they’re receiving the actual dose or a placebo. The two doses will be given 28 days apart.
Sinovac is a Chinese vaccine and has been administered to almost 40 million children between the ages of 3 and 17 in China.
News24 reports that the trials will enrol 14,000 children in five countries to investigate the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine. Locally, 2,000 children will be enrolled in seven sites.
Once the first trial has ended, another trial will start where children between the ages of 12 and 17 will be enrolled. Only after that, trials will start with children aged below 12.
Image credit: Global Times