Next up in hunt for COVID-19 vaccine: Testing shots in kids

The global hunt for a COVID-19 vaccine for kids is only just beginning — a lagging start that has some U.S. pediatricians worried they may not know if any shots work for young children in time for the next school year.

Older adults may be most vulnerable to the coronavirus, but ending the pandemic will require vaccinating children, too. Last week, Pfizer Inc. received permission to test its vaccine in U.S. kids as young as 12, one of only a handful of attempts around the world to start exploring if any experimental shots being pushed for adults also can protect children.

“I just figured the more people they have to do tests on, the quicker they can put out a vaccine and people can be safe and healthy,” said 16-year-old Katelyn Evans, who became the first teen to get an injection in the Pfizer study at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.

Multiple vaccine candidates are in final-stage studies in tens of thousands of adults, and scientists are hopeful that the next few months will bring evidence that at least some of them are safe and effective enough for widespread use.

But when the first shots arrive, they're unlikely to be recommended for children. Vaccines can’t be given to youngsters unless they’ve been tested in their age group -- a major hurdle in efforts to reopen schools and resume more normal activities that are critical to families' well-being.

“The public doesn’t understand that,” said Dr. Evan Anderson of Emory University, who has been pushing for pediatric testing of COVID-19 vaccines. While he’s encouraged by Pfizer’s study in adolescents, he finds it “very concerning” that children younger than 12 may not have a vaccine by next fall.

Children represent about 10% of COVID-19 cases documented in the U.S. And while children are far less likely than adults to get seriously ill, about...