Volunteers needed for the Wits Covid-19 vaccine trials
JOBURG – Participants will have to wait until the trial is complete to find out whether they received the Covid-19 vaccine or placebo.
Volunteers for the South African Novavax Covid-19 vaccine needed. Wits University recently announced that they have begun the second phase of their Novavax Covid-19 vaccine trial.
The second phase involves the process of screening of volunteers for the trial and the Wits University team is calling on members of the public enlist as volunteers for their proposed vaccine. The South African NVX-CoV2373 trial looks enrol up to 2904 participants and will evaluate the vaccine candidate’s safety, immunogenicity, and protection against Covid-19.
President and CEO of Novavax Stanley Erck said, “This important Phase 2 clinical trial will not only provide additional data on safety and immunogenicity of NVX-CoV2373, it also has the potential to provide an early indication of efficacy, as South Africa is experiencing a surge of Covid-19.” This phase of the trial will consist of two cohorts, the first being evaluating the efficacy, safety and immunogenicity of NVX-CoV2373 in approximately 2 650 healthy, HIV-negative adults. Secondly, it will evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of NVX-CoV2373 in approximately 240 medically stable, HIV-positive adults. The South African study is part of a larger, global clinical programme to evaluate NVX-CoV2373, including larger Phase 3 studies with approximately 30 000 participants, to be launched throughout the world.
According to Novavax, volunteers/potential participants will be screened to determine if it is safe for them to join the study. Up to five days after the screening, volunteers who qualify will be enrolled and randomised into the trial. Half of the trial participants will be given the Covid-19 vaccine injection while the other half of the trial participants will be given a placebo injection (a ‘fake’ injection that will not harm nor benefit the taker). A computer will randomly assign which participants are to receive the vaccine or placebo. Participants will have to wait until the trial is complete to find out whether they received the Covid-19 vaccine or placebo. All trial participants will be followed up with regularly for about one year after their last vaccination.
Members of the public should not assume that the vaccine they may receive in this trial will give them any protection against Covid-19. To volunteer for this trial, please visit www.vidatrack.co.za
