Thai FDA approves Moderna vaccine for ages 12 to 17

The Moderna vaccine has just won approval from the Thailand Food and Drug Administration to be given to teenagers between the ages of 12 and 17 years old. ZP Therapeutics, a division of Zuellig Pharma, distributor of the Moderna vaccine, made the announcement yesterday. In a statement, the company expressed gratitude to the Food and Drug Administration for approving the use of their vaccine in the younger population.

They observed that this approval gives Thailand a better chance to administer more vaccines to a wider range of people and will be helpful in fighting off Covid-19 and the pandemic that has swept Thailand in recent months, especially with more contagious and easily transmissible variants now in play.

“The approval of Covid-19 vaccine Moderna for use in adolescents expands the vaccine arsenal that Thailand has to combat the pandemic. We are grateful that the FDA has authorised the use of the Moderna vaccine for adolescents so that they can be offered protection against the coronavirus, especially in light of the highly contagious Delta variant.”

ZP Therapeutics says that the vaccination method for those between the ages of 12 and 17 is exactly the same as for adults. The regimen involves receiving one dose following 28 days later by a second injection to be fully inoculated.

Moderna will be seeing an influx of usage in Thailand in the coming months after a recent study showed that 6 months after full vaccinations its effectiveness dropped just 1%. The Red Cross recently got budget approval for nearly a billion baht to purchase 1 million Moderna vaccines, while Chulabhorn Royal Academy, which had been using the Sinopharm vaccine, announced its intentions to buy 8 million Moderna vaccines to use as booster shots.

SOURCE: BKK Post