260 PEOPLE SIGN UP FOR VIRUS TRIAL
THE NHS has revealed that 260 Halton residents have volunteered to take part in Covid-19 vaccine trials.
They are among 195,138 people across the UK who have offered to be treated with experimental treatments intended to generate a protective immune response against the disease.
Two separate studies are being conducted, at the universities of Oxford and Imperial College, and co-ordinated by the NHS and the National Institute
For Health Research.
If successful, a vaccine could be rolled out nationally to provide protection across the population.
Vaccines work by either administering a harmless version of a bacteria or virus, such as one weakened or destroyed in a laboratory first. They are originated in the work of scientist Edward Jenner, who observed that milkmaids who had overcome the relatively mild cowpox disease did not contract potentially lethal smallpox.
Figures published by NHS digital showed that 50.6% of the coronavirus vaccine volunteers were male and 49.4% female.
They said 39% were aged 40 to 59 years old, while 32.6% were aged 60 to 79 years, 37.5% were 18 to 39, and 0.9% were 80 and above. Halton’s contingent accounts for 0.1% of the nation’s vaccine volunteers
An anonymous dashboard of volunteer data is available to view online.
There were 19,840 people who have offered to take part across the North West.
Potential participants signing up to take part must be aged 18 or over, have an email address and live in the UK.
To register, visit www. nhs.uk/sign-up-to-becontacted-for-research