New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
AstraZeneca plans vaccine trial in Danbury
DANBURY — Nuvance Health is participating in a clinical trial to test the efficacy of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Nuvance, which includes Danbury, Norwalk, Sharon and New Milford hospitals, is the only health system in Connecticut to be involved in this study, which centers on the vaccine developed by Oxford University and the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca.
“We are excited to participate in this trial locally to help identify a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine,” Joann Petrini, vice president of Research and Innovation at Nuvance Health, said in a statement. “Offering research studies is just one way that Nuvance Health is working to combat the devastating impact of COVID-19.”
Participants will be monitored for two years and will visit the study center at Danbury Hospital up to six times for assessments. Dr Paul Nee, an infectious disease specialist at Danbury and New Milford hospitals, is the principal investigator on the study.
Comparing vaccines
More than 36,000 health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities have been vaccinated so far in Connecticut, the governor’s office said Monday. This includes staff at Nuvance, where distribution began at Danbury Hospital in mid-December, in addition to Hartford Hospital, Yale New Haven and some nursing homes.
These residents have received the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, which have been approved for emergency use for adults in the United States.
The AstraZeneca vaccine has yet to be approved, but could receive authorization in the United Kingdom this week. Partial research shows the vaccine is 70 percent effective, according to the Associated Press. It is expected to work against the new variant of the virus striking Great Britain, but there are concerns about how well the vaccine works in people ages 55 and over, among others, the Associated Press reported.
The CEO of the company, however, said he expects the vaccine to be 95 percent effective, which is about the same as ones from the Pfizer and Moderna, Business Insider reports.
But the AstraZeneca vaccine works differently than Pfizer and Moderna’s. The former used a virus that normally affects chimpanzees to give the human body the blueprint to fight the coronavirus. The other vaccines give the body part of the virus’ genetic code, according to the BBC.
The AstraZeneca vaccine can be stored and transported at normal refrigerator temperatures, unlike Pfizer’s, which must be kept in an ultra-cold freezer. This means it should be easier to distribute. It’s also cheaper than the other vaccines, according to the Associated Press.
Studying how to prevent COVID-19
This is not the only coronavirus trial involving Nuvance.
Danbury and Norwalk hospitals, as well as their Nuvance Health sister hospital, Vassar Brothers Medical Center in Poughkeepsie, N.Y, are participating in two clinical trials run by John Hopkins University to study the treatment and prevention of COVID-19.
In these nationwide trials, researchers looking at whether convalescent blood plasma therapy can effectively be used to treat people in the early stages of the virus or prevent illness in those who are at high risk of being exposed at their homes or jobs.
For the the AstraZeneca trial, Nuvance is participating in the third phase of clinical trials.
This study is randomized with some volunteers receiving the experimental vaccine and others, a placebo. Neither the participants nor the medical staff involved will know whether a participant gets the vaccine or the placebo.
Up to 30,000 volunteers have signed up for the trial nationwide, fulfilling the study’s maximum capacity. Participants are age 18 or older, in good or stable health, and have no previously confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19.
For information, contact officeofclinicaltrials@nuvancehealth.org.