Covid-19 Vaccine Trials in US Underway in Biggest Test to Date

“This is a significant milestone,” NIH Director Francis Collins said after the first test injection of Moderna's vaccine was given, at 6:45am in Savannah, Georgia.

“Yes, we’re going fast, but no, we are not going to compromise” on proving whether the vaccine is safe and effective.

“We are focusing on speed because every day matters,” added Stephane Bancel, CEO of Massachusetts-based Moderna.

After volunteers get two doses a month apart, scientists will closely track which group experiences more infections as they go about their daily routines, especially in areas where the virus is spreading unchecked.

The answer probably won’t come until November or December, cautioned Dr. Anthony Fauci, NIH’s infectious-diseases chief.

Among many questions the study may answer: How much protection does just one dose offer compared with the two scientists think are needed?

If it works, will it protect against severe disease or block infection entirely?

Don’t expect a vaccine as strong as the measles vaccine, which prevents about 97 percent of measles infections, Fauci said, adding he would be happy with a Covid-19 vaccine that’s 60 percent effective.

Several other vaccines made by China and by Britain’s Oxford University began smaller final-stage tests in Brazil and other hard-hit countries earlier this month.

But the US requires its own tests of any vaccine that might be used in the country.

Every month through the fall, the government-funded Covid-19 Prevention Network will roll out a new study of a leading candidate, each with 30,000 volunteers.

The final US study of the Oxford shot is set to begin in August, followed by a candidate from Johnson & Johnson in September and one from Novavax in October.

That’s a stunning number of people needed to roll up their sleeves for science. In recent weeks, more than 150,000 Americans filled out an online registry signaling interest, Collins said. But many more are needed.

NIH is working to make sure that the study isn’t just filled with healthy, younger volunteers but includes populations hit hardest by Covid-19, including older adults, those in poor health and African-Americans, and Latinos.

“We really are going to depend upon that sense of volunteerism for individuals from every different corner of society if we’re going to really find out how this vaccine, and its potential to end this terrible pandemic, is going to work in each of those groups,” Collins said. 

(Writers: Lauran Neergaard, Michael Hill, Jocelyn Noveck) 

Source: https://apnews.com/33c57aa5d44d5cec2842964345fa16b1