US pharmaceutical company Moderna Inc (Nasdaq:MRNA) has filed for authorisation of its COVID-19 vaccine for children under the age of six, Reuters news agency reported on Thursday.

If authorised, this will make it the first vaccine against COVID-19 for those under five years of age.

Moderna released trial data in March 2022 showing that its COVID-19 vaccine was safe and generated a similar immune response in young children as for adults, which was the goal of the study.

According to Moderna, the Omicron variant, which has been shown to evade vaccine immunity compared with earlier versions, was predominant during the paediatric trial.

The company said that two doses were around 37% effective in preventing infections in two to five year-olds and 51% effective for children aged six months to two years.