9-Year-Old Boy Volunteers To Get Moderna Shot In Vaccine Trials For Children 6 to 12

a nine-year-old boy from Cicero, New York has volunteered on Saturday, Aug. 24, to join the COVID-19 vaccine trials that Moderna is running to test its efficacy on children.

Walker Clary, a volunteer for Moderna’s vaccine trials to test the strength of their COVID-19 vaccine on children between 6 and 12 years of age, stated that he wanted to volunteer to help other kids get the vaccine in the future, according to Syracuse.com.

“I want to help out other kids,” he said. “And it’s exciting to be one of the first my age to get the shot.”

Walker Clary is part of a Moderna research project called kidCOVE, which researches the effectiveness of the vaccine on children ages six months to 12 years. Nearly 7,000 children are participating in the trials, for which Moderna is compensating participating families, the New York Post reported.

Walker’s older brother, 14-year-old Jack Clary, participated in early trials for the vaccine, and Walker wants to help out in bringing this vaccine to kids like him, too, and reduce the number of kids who will be wary of the vaccine.

“I’m not really worried about it at all,” he said. “I don’t want to get COVID.”

His mother, father, and two siblings have all been vaccinated and inoculated for COVID-19, and Walker seems to have no qualms or fears about getting the vaccine before the other kids.

“[We] showed both of them the opportunity based on some information our pediatrician had posted,” Walker Clary’s father said about how Jack and Walker first discovered the vaccine trials they participated in.

Walker’s father is proud of him for volunteering for the program.

“[Walker], like most kids, struggled being at home and not school last year,” he said. “So I think he also knows this is an opportunity to help make sure kids across the country stay in school and sports.”

“We trust in the science of the vaccines,’' he continued. “We are proud of Walker for volunteering.”

Outside of a sore arm and a little disturbed sleep, Walker is reported to not have side effects from the vaccine at the moment. Walker is well-taken care of, and he has an app to record possible side effects as well as a number to call for questions.

He will get his second vaccine shot in a month’s time.