Bristol volunteers wanted for new coronavirus vaccine trial
Our city is one of 17 places across the UK where phase three tests will take place
Residents in Bristol are wanted to take part in another coronavirus vaccine trial.
Around a week after we heard Pfizer's jab could be more than 90 percent effective, the pharmaceutical company Janssen is now starting phase three trials of another vaccine.
The UK will be the first country to run final-stage trials of the jab.
They want 6,000 volunteers across 17 sites with Bristol being one of them. Others include Cardiff, London, Leicester and Manchester.
Saul Faust, professor of paediatric immunology and infectious diseases at the University of Southampton and University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, said: We just don't know how each of these vaccines is going to behave and which are going to generate the better short and long-term immunity.
And we can't be certain that vaccine supply will be efficient and effective and secure from any one manufacturer, wherever it's being made in the world.''
So far around 25,000 people in the UK have participated in vaccine trials, and more than 310,000 have indicated their willingness to take part in clinical studies by signing up to the NHS vaccine research registry.
Kate Bingham, chairwoman of the UK's Vaccine Taskforce, said: "Because we've got this national citizen registry of volunteers willing to go into clinical trials, it has accelerated our ability to enrol trials.
"And that means that the UK is a very favourable place to come in and run studies and so Novavax has expanded that study, and of course Janssen has come to the UK for the first, I think, of its two-dose study.''
Should it prove successful the UK has already secured 30 million doses of Janssen's vaccine.
It's thought those who have already signed up to the NHS vaccine registry who live in the relevant post codes, will be invited to take past in the trials this week.
The vaccine candidate Janssen is trialling is an adenoviral vaccine, like the one Oxford University is working on.
These are based on weakened versions of adenoviruses, which are a group of viruses that typically infect membranes of the eyes, respiratory tract, urinary tract, intestines and nervous system, and include the common cold.
Adam Finn, professor of paediatrics at University of Bristol, said the adenovirus vector does not prevent anyone from being suitable for the vaccination.
"For example, if you were immuno-deficient or something, there's no reason to imagine that's going to be a risk to you,'' he said.
The UK researchers say the timing of results for their study will depend on global recruitment to the trial and the incidence of Covid-19.
They add that recent vaccine trials suggest it generally takes six to nine months to get an outcome, but it could be longer for trials starting out now.