CORONAVIRUS VACCINE VOLUNTEERS COULD GET £235 PAYMENT

PEOPLE who live in some parts of Bristol can volunteer to take part in a coronavirus vaccine trial, which pays out £235 to each person.

The potential Covid-19 inoculation, developed at the University of Oxford, will be trialled on humans in the UK from today.

Bristol is one of only three areas where volunteers are currently being recruited, the others being London and Southampton.

To take part in Bristol, you must live in the BS1-6 or BS8 areas.

You must be healthy, aged from 18 to 55, and not pregnant or breastfeeding.

Volunteers must not have tested positive for Covid-19 or taken part in a previous trial with an adenoviral or coronavirus vaccine.

Participants will have four to 12 visits over a six-month period, with an optional extra visit one year after vaccination.

If you participate in the study until the end, you will receive a total payment of £235.

Some 1,112 volunteers will be recruited across the UK, 561 of whom will be given the candidate vaccine and up to 551 a control vaccine.

The Government is giving the Oxford scientists an extra £20million to help with trials and £22.5m to an Imperial College London project.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the UK is “throwing everything” at its attempt to develop the first successful coronavirus vaccine in the world.

More than 70 vaccines are in development worldwide, but the UK joins only the USA and China in having started human trials.

The website for the trials says: “This study will enable us to assess if healthy people can be protected from Covid-19 with this new vaccine called ChAdOx1 nCoV-19.

“It will also give us valuable information on safety aspects of the vaccine and its ability to generate good immune responses against the virus.

“We will do this by randomly allocating participants to receive the Covid-19 vaccine or a control injection in addition to doing blood tests and collecting information about any symptoms that occur after vaccination.

“Vaccine appointments usually last around 90 minutes, and followup appointments around 20 minutes.

“Please note visits may take longer due to the high number of planned volunteers in the trial.”

Volunteers may feel like they have flu-like symptoms within 24 hours of the vaccinations, which usually resolve within 48 hours, the website says.

Participation is voluntary and people are free to change their mind and withdraw at any time.

Anyone looking to take part can find out how to apply at https:// covid19vaccinetrial.co.uk/participate-trial-bristol