UW Seeks Volunteers For Clinical Trial Of COVID-19 Vaccine

SEATTLE — UW Medicine is seeking up to 1,000 volunteers for a clinical trial of a new COVID-19 vaccine candidate.

The vaccine candidate is called "NVX-CoV2373" and was developed by Novavax Inc. It is being tested in 30,000 patients at roughly 115 sites across the country and Mexico. One of those sites will be UW's Virology Research Clinic at Harborview Medical Center, and the school is trying to gather hundreds of volunteers aged 18 and older to enroll in the clinical study.

There are several ways volunteers can enroll in the trial:

• Take the volunteer screening registry. Enter the site code "UWVR" to get through.
• Sign up through email by contacting joinuwcovid19vax@uw.edu
• Call UW Medicine at 206-520-4212
• Or visit www.uwvteu.org for more information

Those who do take part will need to commit to visiting the research site eight or more times over the next one to two years. They'll end up taking two injections of the vaccine, and will need to have their blood drawn several times. UW says that's necessary to determine if the vaccine causes a reaction in the immune system. Volunteers will also have to log their health following each injection. That said, researchers say the Novavax vaccine is very similar to standard vaccines that have been in use for years, and unlikely to cause health issues.

“Some people may have a sore arm or mild flu-like symptoms for a day or two after receiving the vaccine but in general these vaccines are well-tolerated,” said Dr. Anna Wald, director of the Virology Research Clinic.

The vaccine does not contain the coronavirus, so patients cannot get COVID-19 from taking part in the study. Plus some volunteers won't even be getting the vaccine: because the study is "placebo-controlled," one out of every three patients will instead be given a salt water placebo.

UW researchers say, the more people volunteer, the sooner this vaccine can be approved and put to work helping contain the pandemic.

“Rapid enrollment into the COVID-19 vaccine trials is critical, as the epidemic in the United States is currently worsening," said Dr. Scott McClelland, UW professor of medicine epidemiology and global health."

Researchers are also hoping to make the trial accessible and equitable for minority and underserved populations, who have been disproportionately impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.

“It is important that we provide equitable access to the trial for people from the communities that have been hardest hit by COVID-19, particularly the Latinx, Black and Native American communities,” McClelland said. “And because seniors are particularly at risk of serious infections, we aim to make sure at least a quarter of enrollees are age 65 or older.”

To reach some of those communities, UW will also be deploying mobile testing sites across the state.

The Novavax vaccine trial marks the fifth COVID-19 vaccine candidate to be tested in a Phase 3 trial in the United States. Two vaccines have received FDA approval and are being distributed across the country.

Read more about the Novavax vaccine trial from the National Institutes of Health.