Covid-19 vaccine: Royal Free looking for 500 volunteers for clinical trial
A view of the Royal Free Hospital teaching hospital in the Hampstead area of the London Borough of Camden. The hospital is part of the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust. PA Photo. Picture date: Thursday February 6, 2020. Photo credit should read: Jonathan Brady/PA Wire - Credit: PA
The Royal Free Hospital is running a Covid-19 vaccine trial and looking for north Londoners to sign up.
The trial – testing a vaccine developed by American biotechnology firm Novavax – is being rolled out across the UK.
Dr Fiona Burns is leading efforts to test it at the Hampstead hospital, with the aim being to recruit 500 people who are “able to travel easily to the hospital”.
The vaccine is in phase three of the approvals process.
The new trial, which begins on October 3, is a randomised-controlled trial – which means one group of participants will receive two doses of the potential vaccine 21 days apart, while another will receive a placebo.
It is open to those aged between 18 and 85.
According to a paper in the New England Journal of Medicine, phase one and two of the vaccine’s trial showed it “appeared to be safe” and it also created an “immuno-response” – antibodies – which exceeded that found in the blood of people recovering from Covid-19.
To register interest in the trial, see bit.ly/3i9ZNq1
