Vermonters will have the chance to participate in phase 3 trials for a leading Covid-19 vaccine.
The University of Vermont Medical Center and Larner College of Medicine’s Vaccine Testing Center have been chosen to run a trial for a vaccine developed by Oxford University and manufactured by AstraZeneca, according to Dr. Beth Kirkpatrick, an infectious disease specialist and director of the Vaccine Testing Center.
The university will recruit 250 volunteers to participate in the study, and will prioritize Vermonters over age 65, frontline workers, and people with pre-existing conditions, as well as racial and ethnic groups that have been disproportionately affected by Covid, Kirkpatrick said.
A third of the participants will receive a placebo; two-thirds will receive the vaccine.
The vaccine is one of four vaccines to have entered phase 3 trials, the last stage before approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Already, 30,000 people around the world have received the vaccine, Kirkpatrick said.
Trials were halted temporarily after a woman from the U.K. experienced symptoms. The FDA announced last Friday that it was safe to resume. Now, 30,000 people at 80 sites across the U.S., including UVM Medical Center, will participate in the latest phase.
The vaccines have shown to be safe so far. “What we don’t know yet is whether these vaccines work and how well they work to prevent the actual coronavirus illness,” Kirkpatrick said. She called them “pivotal trials” before they get FDA approval and can be administered broadly.
The study will last approximately two years and include extensive screening, the vaccination or placebo, and follow-up, Kirkpatrick said. To be eligible to participate, people must be at least 18 years old, have never gotten Covid-19, be in good or stable health, and be at increased risk of getting Covid-19. No one will be given the virus as part of the study, she added, and participants cannot contract Covid-19 from the vaccine.
“Developing and distributing a safe, effective vaccine is essential to being able to manage this virus without the measures we’ve had to take over the last six months and returning to normal once it has been safely and widely distributed,” said Gov. Phil Scott at the press conference Tuesday.
The timeline for the development and approval of a vaccine is unclear. State officials have drafted a plan for how to distribute and administer an approved vaccine once Vermont receives them.
This story was updated at 2:30 pm Oct. 27
