Moderna offers £1,500 to children to test its Covid mRNA vaccine

Drug company giant Moderna offered cash inducements to children to test its mRNA Covid-19 booster jab.

Children as young as 12 were offered £1,500 each to participate in the company’s NextCove trial of its booster vaccine through WhatsApp messages.  When an ethics committee questioned the large sums being offered, Moderna reduced the inducement to £185.

The company has been fined £14,000 for making “inappropriate financial inducement” and for bringing “discredit upon the pharmaceutical industry.”  The drug industry regulator, the UK Prescription Medicines Code of Practice Authority (PMCPA), which imposed the fine, has asked Moderna for assurances that incentives to children won’t be repeated.

The inducement goes against UK law, which prohibits incentives or financial inducements being offered to children or their parents to participate in drug trials.

Critics argue the fine is too small.  UK MP Esther McVey has said: “A charge of £14,000 to a company that enjoyed a total revenue of $6.8 bn in 2023 is hardly likely to make them think twice before breaking the rules again.”

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