Moderna was scolded by a U.K. trade group over a WhatsApp message that offered children a hefty $2,000 for participating in a clinical trial of its Covid-19 booster vaccine.
The trial, which was called NextCOVE, recruited adults and children age 12 and older in a number of locations last year around the U.K., the U.S. and Canada. A pediatrician, who worked at an unnamed hospital in the U.K., posted the message in hopes of soliciting participants, mentioned the amount of money involved, and closed by saying “We’d love to have you on board!”
This prompted the Children’s Covid Vaccines Advisory Council, an independent group of health professionals and scientists who challenge government advice on the benefits and risks of Covid vaccines for children, to investigate. They learned the research ethics committee that reviewed and approved the study expressed concerns about the money offered, which could be seen as coercion.