[ad_1]
In an exclusive interview with ABC7 Chicago, the UIC principal investigator for the Chicago arm of the national trial said the first volunteers were to receive the vaccine or a placebo this morning, administered by university researchers. This crucial step begins here even as researchers seek more volunteers to participate in the national study which aims to recruit 30,000 participants.
“We are very excited. It has been a long way to get everything ready and getting the approvals,” said Dr Richard Novak, Head of Infectious Diseases at UIC.
UI Health chief medical officer discusses Moderna vaccine trial
The pace of vaccine research has been accelerated across the country, in part thanks to the Trump administration’s “Operation Warp Speed”. Several other potential vaccines are also being tested.
Only a few volunteers are expected to be “signed up” and receive their injection today in Chicago, but Novak said the university plans to increase to 20 to 40 a day in the coming weeks.
The UIC will lead the study in Chicago and recruit up to 1,000 people, half will receive the vaccine and the other half will receive a placebo. About 500 people will receive the vaccine, which will be given as a series of two injections over a period of four weeks. The other half of the participants will receive a placebo.
Even as the trial is underway here in Chicago, UIC researchers are looking for more volunteers of the right type for the study – those who are at greatest risk of exposure to the virus.
This includes racial and ethnic minorities, people who live in multigenerational households, people over 65, and people in high-risk occupations, including factory and warehouse workers, frontline workers. line and medical professionals, Novak said. The researcher stressed that the study is safe for participants, whether they are receiving the vaccine or the placebo, and encouraged those interested to contact the university.
“We need people who, when they’re in the community, are more likely to be exposed,” Novak said. “What we need to see to measure is whether this vaccine will protect them or not.”
Due to her age, ethnicity and asthma, Bonnie Blue, 68, falls into three categories at high risk for COVID-19, making her a prime candidate for the trial.
Blue said she has been very careful since the start of the pandemic, rarely leaving the house and always wearing a mask.
UIC is looking for 1,000 volunteers and so far 8,000 have applied, but researchers are more interested in volunteers with high risk factors, including their age, pre-existing conditions and minority communities.
Volunteers are screened to make sure they have not had the virus and will then be placed either in the study group that will receive the trial vaccine or in the control group that will receive a placebo. Neither researchers nor participants will know who gets the vaccine. All participants will be trained to keep an electronic journal to document their activities as well as any potential symptoms.
“We will have two UIC sites and one site at the University of Chicago,” Novak said.
The researchers will follow the participants for two years, although Novak said the first results of the trial might be available before that – as early as December is possible, he said, although it is not guaranteed. .
The UIC program started later than expected and clinical trials have already started at other sites across the country that are part of the effort led by Moderna and the National Institutes of Health.
The Moderna vaccine candidate is an RNA-based vaccine designed to help the body produce antibodies that protect against COVID-19.
Those interested in volunteering for the trial can register through the UIC online registry, which contains a two-part questionnaire, or the national registry. People can also call UIC researchers at 312-355-0656 to ask questions.
Copyright © 2020 WLS-TV. All rights reserved.
[ad_2]
Source link