NIAID launches clinical vaccine trials for COVID-19 — here’s how to volunteer
LOS ANGELES - A new clinical trial to receive an experimental vaccine for the coronavirus has launched, and you can sign up to participate.
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) kicked off a new clinical trials network which aims to enroll thousands of volunteers in large-scale clinical trials intended to protect people from COVID-19.
“Centralizing our clinical research efforts into a single trials network will expand the resources and expertise needed to efficiently identify safe and effective vaccines and other prevention strategies against COVID-19,” NIAID Director Dr. Anthony Fauci said.
The network’s vaccine testing will be led by Larry Corey, M.D., of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, and Kathleen M. Neuzil, M.D., M.P.H., of the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
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According to the report, the network is expected to operate “more than 100 clinical trial sites across the United States and internationally.”
About the Phase 3 Clinical Trial
According to the COVID-19 Prevention Network (CoVPN), interventions that have shown promise in the laboratory and then in animal models subsequently move on to research studies in people, which are known as clinical studies.
The first Phase 3 clinical trial will involve testing the investigational mRNA-1273 vaccine, developed by NIAID scientists and their collaborators at the biotechnology company Moderna, Inc., based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
According to CoVPN, A phase 3 study involve many thousands of people, usually including some participants who are at increased risk for infection.CoVPN plans to do studies to find safe and effective vaccines and monoclonal antibodies for SARS-CoV-2, which is the virus that causes COVID-19.
That study is expected to begin this summer.
How to sign up
Interested individuals can sign up for the clinical trial participant registry online. The clinical staff will review the list, and contact and screen potential volunteers.