Children as young as 12 are volunteering to participate in COVID-19 vaccine trials, saying they hope by doing so they not only will help science, but will get their lives back by taking the experimental vaccines.

Vaccines currently being administered have been approved only for persons age 16 and up for Pfizer’s version, and 18 and older for Moderna’s. Although children and teens don’t get COVID as much as adults, teens being vaccinated are key to keeping schools open, so opening the vaccines to younger persons is the next step in stopping the pandemic, experts say.

One reason it’s important to get the vaccines to them is because some research suggests that they may be positive for the virus, but asymptomatic, The New York Times reports.

Parents must approve of their child’s participation, and a child must also be willing to be part of the clinical trials if it’s their parents who are enrolling them. Adolescent trials are expected to begin soon, with more trials involving children as young as 5 after that. Both children and parents are financially compensated with modest sums of money.

SOURCE: The New York Times February 16, 2021