Volunteer call for new vaccine study

The National Institute for Health Research-supported Valneva study, will be run at North Tyneside General Hospital in North Shields and the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle, and is open to healthy adults throughout the region who have not been given a previous COVID-19 vaccine.The plan is to recruit 4,000 participants nationally – with everyone involved in the study receiving two active vaccine doses.

Those enrolled in the study over the age of 30 will receive two doses of either the Valneva vaccine, or the approved Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine.

Participants aged 18 to 29 will receive the Valneva vaccine but not be offered the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine.

The Valneva vaccine is the only adjuvanted – an ingredient to create a stronger immune response - COVID-19 vaccine in clinical development in Europe.

If the Valneva vaccine is shown to be safe and effective, up to 250 million vaccine doses could be supplied to the UK and other countries around the world.

Professor Adam Finn, chief investigator for the Valneva study said: “We definitely need more vaccines to help us out of this pandemic and this one is a very promising candidate.”

For more details, go to the Valneva study website - https://www.ukcovid19study.com.

Dr John Steer, principal investigator of the Valneva study at Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust said: “Finding more than one vaccine candidate is crucial to help protect us all.”

Anyone interested in taking part in the study at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle, can email [email protected], or call 0191 2820083.