Covid vaccine trial volunteers to get four doses so they can travel
VOLUNTEERS who took part in vaccine trials will be forced to get a total of four jabs if they want to go abroad under a new government plan.
Prof Jonathan Van-tam, the deputy chief medical officer, hit out at lack of global co-operation, which means up to 20,000 people will have to have extra doses – despite a lack of safety data on the matter – simply to get the right paperwork.
He said the new arrangement would never have been necessary, if other countries had followed the UK’S lead and treated all those in trials as fully vaccinated.
Individuals who took part in the trials will be offered one to one counselling about whether they want to go ahead with two more jabs, which would be of the Pfizer/biontech vaccine.
The eight-week gap between doses means that it will be close to Christmas by the time those who take up the offer get the freedom to travel to more countries without quarantine.
For months, all those who took part in trials of Novavax and Valneva have been unable to travel to countries in Europe and beyond to see family, work or go on holiday.
But since their trial vaccines were unlicensed, they cannot prove their vaccination status outside the UK.
Earlier this year The Telegraph revealed that Britain’s vaccines tsar, Dame Kate Bingham, was among those prevented from travelling abroad because she took part in early vaccine trials.
Prof Van-tam said: “The measures we have taken will allow UK Covid vaccine trial participants to travel freely overseas once they have had the additional vaccinations.”
No evidence exists to date on administering four doses of different vaccines, although experts do not expect significant issues. There is evidence that mixing three doses of different vaccines is safe.
If the vaccines are licensed, those who had them as part of a trial would be able to travel abroad, without having extra jabs.
Some of those taking part in trials may also be offered booster jabs, if eligible, because of their age or health.