17,000 people in West Midlands volunteer to take part in Covid-19 vaccine studies
More than 17,000 people across the West Midlands have offered to be part of the world’s first phase three study to test the effectiveness of a potential Covid-19 vaccine.
US-based biotechnology firm Novavax has launched the study, which will involve 10,000 volunteers from the UK.
They will be picked from more than 260,000 volunteers who have joined the Covid-19 vaccine registry nationally – which includes more than 17,000 from the West Midlands.
However, more volunteers from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, as well as those with long-term health conditions, are being encouraged to get involved.
The study will test the safety and effectiveness of a promising new vaccine, developed by Novavax, across a broad spectrum of people from a variety of age groups and backgrounds.
Calling on some of the thousands of volunteers who have joined the fight against Covid-19 through the NHS vaccine registry, the phase three trials are the second to commence in the UK and will be undertaken at a number of National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) regional sites.
The registry was launched in July to help create a database of people who consent to be contacted by the NHS to take part in clinical studies, to help speed up the development of a safe and effective vaccine.
NIHR Clinical Research Network West Midlands clinical director, Professor Jeremy Kirk said: “Without the selflessness of those who are willing to help researchers find an effective vaccine, our chance of fighting Covid-19 would be much reduced, so we are incredibly grateful to all volunteers.”
With several more studies for potential vaccine candidates expected to start before the end of the year, UK researchers are calling for additional volunteers to sign up to take part in research.
They are particularly seeking more volunteers from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, as well as those with underlying health conditions and the over 65s.
Business Secretary Alok Sharma said: “We are fighting coronavirus with all our might and we all have our part to play.
"One of the most effective ways we can defeat coronavirus is by finding a safe successful vaccine as quickly as possible, so that our lives can start returning to normal.
“I am incredibly proud of the 260,000 invaluable volunteers who have signed up for vaccine clinical studies across the UK.
'Confident'
"We want even more people to join them and sign up to the vaccines registry, so that scientists and researchers can make sure potential vaccines are completely safe and effective.”
The Government has secured 60 million doses of the Novavax vaccine for the UK, which will be manufactured using FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies’s facilities in Billingham, Stockton-on-Tees.
This will ensure that, once approved by regulators, the vaccine can be supplied as quickly as possible.
Gregory Glenn, MD, president of research and development at Novavax, said it was an "important and exciting advance" in addressing the global pandemic.
"We are confident in the safety of this vaccine and based on the successful phase three clinical trial of our influenza vaccine built using the same platform, we are optimistic that NVX-CoV2373 will prove to be effective at preventing infection and reducing the transmission of the disease," he added.
If any of the vaccines are successful in clinical studies, they could start to be delivered to the UK next year.
It is expected that these vaccines would first be given to priority groups such as frontline health and social care workers, ethnic minorities, adults with underlying health conditions and the elderly.
For more information about volunteering for clinical studies visit www.nhs.uk/researchcontact.
