Massive Call for Volunteers in Phase 3 Trials for a Coronavirus Vaccine

Aug 3, 2020 by CenTrial



In a massive effort to complete testing for a coronavirus vaccine, two major companies, Pfizer and Moderna, are calling for 60,000 people to volunteer to participate in Phase 3 clinical trials.

Half of the volunteers will receive the vaccine, and the other half will receive a placebo. Both vaccines that are being tested require two doses, several weeks apart. Then researchers must wait to see if there is a clear benefit in people receiving the vaccine – if there are fewer Covid-19 infections or less severe infections.  

The first hurdle is to get the volunteers enrolled in the clinical trials. The faster this can be done, the faster researchers can evaluate the effectiveness and the safety of their respective vaccines.

To ensure accurate results participants who are most at risk for severe Covid-19 reactions such as black, Hispanic, Native American, and seniors, need to be included in the testing.

The experimental vaccines are the first in a new class of medicines that deliver a snip of genetic material that gives cells instructions to build spike proteins that the immune system then builds a defense against. This means that participants are not being dosed with the actual coronavirus.

“This is going to be a big American opportunity for people to come onboard as our partners, to take part in what is a historic effort to bring to an end what has been the worst pandemic our world has seen in over 100 years,” National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins said.

It will take months for the first data to come in, and while there is no guarantee an effective vaccine will be found, governments around the world are stockpiling millions of doses of the most promising candidates so immunizations can begin immediately if an approval is granted.

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