KSHB 41: Children’s Mercy launches registry for COVID-19 vaccine trial for children

By Charlie Keegan

Parents interested in having their children participate in a COVID-19 vaccine trial can now register with Children’s Mercy Kansas City.

Registering on the hospital's website does not enroll a child in the vaccine trial. It simply tells the hospital you’re interested in enrolling should the hospital begin a clinical research trial.

Dr. Barbara Pahud, Children’s Mercy Hospital’s director of infectious disease research, said nearly 1,000 people have registered before the registration went public.

Pahud is in conversations with several pharmaceutical partners to begin a study to find a vaccine which protects children from COVID-19.

Only one of the two COVID-19 vaccines currently in use across the United States is available for children ages 16 and older. The other is for adults only.

Pahud said the study she hopes to bring to Kansas City is low risk. Her own 12-year-old daughter is on the registry - although she wouldn’t be able to participate if her mother is the principal investigator.

Pahud said a COVID-19 vaccine for children would save lives and possibly prevent multi system inflammatory syndrome in children, a condition which causes children’s organs to swell and is linked to COVID-19.

“Just because COVID-19 is affecting adults more than children, doesn’t mean we need to stop paying attention to the children,” she said. “This should become another vaccine-preventable disease. We don’t want any child to die of anything that is preventable.”

Would you like your child to be registered as a potential participant for a COVID-19 vaccine research study? Click here to add your information to our registry.

Learn more about COVID-19 vaccine at Children's Mercy.