Vaccine trial recruitment drive targets Newcastle
HEALTH experts in Newcastle are recruiting 500 people to take part in the next phase of testing for the Oxford vaccine programme.
Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust are in the process of identifying individuals who experience high exposure to Covid-19 on a daily basis to take part in human trials. The Oxford vaccine is regarded as one of the most exciting coronavirus studies happening around the world and is at an advanced development stage.
This week, a deal was struck with drugs giant Astrazeneca to produce millions of doses by September, if it is found to be effective.
Human trials are taking place across the country which will look at how people in different groups respond to the new vaccine.
The recruitment bid is part of the third phase of trials looking at how the vaccine works in a range of people over the age of 18. Separate trials for other groups have already begun or will commence this week.
Newcastle Hospitals principal investigator Christopher Duncan said: “Healthy people, who haven’t previously had COVID-19, are being asked to register their interest as soon as possible in order to participate in the trials. “
The vaccinations will take place across May and June and participants will be monitored and asked to provide certain clinical information to build up a picture of how effective it is.
In a statement, Oxford University has explained why health workers are being targeted in the recruitment: ”To assess whether the vaccine works to protect from COVID-19, the statisticians in our team will compare the number of infections in the control group with the number of infections in the vaccinated group.
“Recruitment of those who have a higher chance of being exposed to the SARS-COV-2 virus is being prioritised, such as frontline healthcare workers, frontline support staff and public-facing key workers, in an effort to capture the efficacy data as quickly as possible.”