The University of Oxford is testing the efficacy of the AstraZeneca vaccine in children and adolescents

Oxford: The University of Oxford in Britain announced a new clinical study to test the effectiveness of the AstraZeneca vaccine against Corona in children and adolescents.

It should be noted that this drug was developed by the British-Swedish company AstraZeneca, in cooperation with the University of Oxford.

The university stated that it will conduct this study on 300 volunteers between the ages of 6 and 17 years.

Professor Andrew Pollard of the University of Oxford said in a statement released Saturday: “It is important to research how children and adolescents respond to the vaccine, as some children can benefit from the vaccination,” and pointed out that most children do not become ill with the virus.

The first tests are expected to begin this month, when up to 240 volunteers will receive the vaccine, while the rest will receive a controlled dose.

The vaccine, called ChAdOx1 nCoV19-, depends on certain viruses that appear in monkeys after introducing changes to these viruses, and this vaccine has been used for weeks to vaccinate adults in Britain.

Jonathan Van-Tam, deputy chief medical advisor to the British government, said recently that there are many studies being done at the moment to develop vaccines for children.

According to the Royal Society of Paediatrics and Child Health, Covid-19 disease can lead to death or take a dangerous course in children, but the association indicated that this possibility is rare and said that it is clear that the death rate of this disease among children is significantly lower than that among Adults “There are signs that children are less likely to become infected”.

The association added that the role of children in spreading the disease is still unclear and said that there is no clear evidence that they are more contagious than adults.

Source: (dpa)