Volunteers needed in Nottinghamshire to help research into new Covid-19 vaccine

Volunteers who live in Nottinghamshire are being invited to help with research into a new Covid-19 vaccine.
Trials for a new vaccine will be taking place in Nottingham.Trials for a new vaccine will be taking place in Nottingham.
Trials for a new vaccine will be taking place in Nottingham.

The latest UK vaccine study is being run at Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH).

Developed by specialty vaccine company Valneva, the vaccine is the only inactivated, adjuvanted (an ingredient to create a strong immune response) Covid-19 vaccine in clinical development in Europe.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The study will be running across 22 National Institute for Health Research sites in England – including in Nottingham – and is open to healthy adults who have not had a previous Covid-19 vaccine.

Professor Stephen Ryder, clinical director for research and innovation and principal investigator for the Valneva vaccine clinical trial at NUH, said: “Vaccines are the way out of the Covid-19 pandemic and it is essential we develop as many of them as we can, and get these vaccines into practice as quickly as possible.

“I would urge people in Nottinghamshire to come forward to find out if they are eligible to take part in the Valneva vaccine clinical trial, which is being managed by the specialist research team from our clinical research facility, based at Queen’s Medical Centre.”

Researchers at NUH are looking to recruit 260 people from around Nottinghamshire into this study.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Unlike earlier Covid-19 vaccine studies, which involved a placebo dose, everyone involved in this trial will receive two active vaccine doses, administered in a four week interval.

If Valneva’s vaccine is shown to be safe and effective, up to 250 million vaccine doses could be supplied to the UK and other countries around the world. As part of the UK government’s vaccine procurement approach, up to 100 million doses of this vaccine have been secured.

A proportion of potential participants will be identified through the NHS Covid-19 Vaccine Research Registry, which currently has more than 480,000 sign-ups.

More details about the vaccine trial and how people can find out if they are eligible to take part in Nottingham are available on the NUH website.