Moderna and Johnson & Johnson have announced they are planning to test their COVID-19 vaccine candidates on children. The pharmaceutical giants plan to initiate pediatric trials within 12 months of establishing safety and efficacy of vaccines for adults, according to USNews.Info. According to experts, it is commonplace to test vaccines first on adults before entering the pediatric field.

Other drug companies in the COVID-19 vaccine race, Pfizer and AstraZeneca, said they will also include youth in their clinical trials in the future. The American Academy of Pediatrics issued an urgent appeal to vaccine manufacturers to consider the safety of children when developing antiviral drugs to fight COVID-19.

“We urgently need pediatric clinical trials to establish the efficacy, safety and pharmacokinetics of the most promising experimental and repurposed COVID-19 therapies proposed to date,” the organization said in its official journal, Pediatrics.

According to NBC News, many parents are balking at having their children vaccinated for COVID-19 because at the moment, the clinical trials do not include youths. However, despite the protest, Surgeon General Jerome Adams “authorized state-licensed pharmacists to order and administer COVID-19 vaccinations to persons 3 years and older,” according to guidance under the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act.

The AAP called that decision “incredibly misguided,” explaining that children would be better off receiving their shots from their doctors, where they would get better care.