Children in Bristol to receive Covid vaccine in world-first trial

BRISTOL has been selected as one of four locations to take part in a worldfirst coronavirus vaccine trial for children.

The University of Oxford study will recruit up to 300 child volunteers nationally, aged between six and 17 years old, to investigate if the current Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is effective in protecting children.

As well as the Oxford site, three partner sites in London, Southampton and at Bristol Royal Hospital for

Children will run the trial. It launched yesterday and the first vaccinations are expected to commence later this month.

Recruitment for Bristol’s is open to all BS postcodes via the trial website, which states that participants from Black, Asian and minority ethnic groups are “particularly welcome” to take part.

The length of the study is one year and participants will be asked to attend five visits, with anyone under the age of 16 requiring parental consent. Up to 240 randomly-selected participants will be given the coronavirus vaccine, known as ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, while the rest will receive a control vaccine either of MenB or Bexsero.

Andrew Pollard, chief investigator on the Oxford vaccine trial, said: “While most children are relatively unaffected by coronavirus and are unlikely to become unwell with the infection, it is important to establish the safety and immune response to the vaccine in children and young people as some children may benefit from vaccination.”

A £10 reimbursement will be offered to each participant for each visit to cover any travel costs.

Last week Professor Jonathan VanTam, England’s deputy chief medical officer, said it is “perfectly possible” the UK will have coronavirus vaccines for children by the end of the year.