UPDATE: Dozens of kids signed up for pediatric COVID-19 vaccine trials in Orlando

ORLANDO, Fla. — Eyewitness News was first to report COVID-19 vaccine trials for children were starting in Orlando last month.

Trial investigators say they filled all their spots and administered all the vaccines for the trial in a matter of just two weeks.

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Moderna set a goal of getting 3,000 kids between the ages of 12 and 17 to participate in its trial. 100 of them were enrolled right in Central Florida.

Researchers at Nona Pediatric Center in Orlando say they were overwhelmed with applications for the study, and wish they could have taken on even more kids.

Kate Hitchcock is a doctor, and a mother who enrolled all three of her kids- a 13-year old girl and 16-year-old twin boys- in the trials.

“It was a no-brainer,” Hitchcock says. “I didn’t know how they would feel about it. They were very enthusiastic. I think they understand what this means for down the road.”

There’s a 67 percent chance trial participants get the vaccine. The others get a placebo.

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After the first dose, they were monitored by Dr. Salma Elfaki for one and a half hours.

“The normal kind of stuff we expect: pain at the injection site, body aches, nothing serious,” Dr. Elfaki says. “No one’s had any allergic reactions.”

Hitchcock says the fact that she’s already been vaccinated factored in to the decision to offer her kids up for research.

“I have my own experience to say this is going to be just fine,” Hitchcock says.

As for Hitchcock’s kids, they say they wanted to do their part to help things get back to normal, which makes their mother proud.

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“How many times in history do we get to do something like this where we can help millions of people? I’m proud that my kids want to do that.”

Moderna says its goal is to get enough data from the study by the Spring so they can add an extension to their existing Emergency Use Authorization, allowing them to offer the vaccine to kids between 12 and 17 years of age by the Summer.

Cox Media Group