Upstate seeks parents of children 6 months to 11 years old for Pfizer vaccine study

SYRACUSE, .N.Y. — Upstate Medical University is now enrolling children 6 months to 11 years old for the Pfizer COVID-19 trial when the study begins on April 5, according to Upstate.

Upstate will be one of four sites in the world to study younger volunteers with the Pfizer vaccine.

And Joseph Domachowske, MD, professor of Pediatrics and of Microbiology and Immunology at Upstate, will lead the pediatric trial.

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Upstate said the Pfizer study for kids ages 11 and under will roll out in phases within the next few months.

Phase 1 will begin in April and create a basis for the optimal dosage of the vaccine in kids.

The first phase is expected to be completed by the end of May.

Phase 2 and 3 will be the full enrollment and efficacy phase of the "blinded placebo-controlled trial," which is expected to begin in June, according to Upstate.

To be eligible for this study, children must be between 6 months old and 11 years old and in good health.

The study will be over a two-year period and the volunteers must be able to make the commitment as they may be seen up to 10 times during the study period.

Upstate said that the volunteers will need to provide blood samples for up to two years after receiving the vaccine or placebo.

The two-year time frame for the study is to assess the safety and long-term immune response in kids.

Pfizer Inc. said on Wednesday, its COVID-19 vaccine was 100% effective in a final-stage trial in kids ages 12 to 15.

The study will take place at Upstate's Pediatric Infectious Diseases output clinic on the 5th floor of the Physicians building on Irvine Avenue in Syracuse.

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For more information on the trial or to sign up, call the dedicated study phone line 24/7 at 315-706-5636, or email Jodi Halczyn at halczynj@upstate.edu.