World-first covid-19 vaccine booster study launches in Eastern region
Volunteers from the East of England will soon be able to receive a third ‘booster’ COVID-19 vaccine through a new Government-funded clinical trial launching this week, the Health Secretary has announced.
The Cov-Boost study will be run at NIHR Cambridge Clinical Research Facility at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CUH) and is being led by University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust. It will be the first study in the world to provide vital data on the impact of a third dose on patients’ immune responses.
It will give scientists from around the world and the experts behind the UK’s COVID-19 vaccination programme a better idea of how effective a booster of each vaccine is in protecting the individual from the virus.
The trial will look at seven different COVID-19 vaccines (including the Oxford/AstraZeneca, Pfizer/BionTech, and Moderna vaccines) as potential boosters, given at least 10 to 12 weeks after a second dose as part of the ongoing vaccination programme. One booster will be provided to each volunteer and could be a different brand to the one they were originally vaccinated with.
Anyone interested in participating can find out more by signing up to the NHS COVID-19 Vaccine Research Registry. Participants will be adults aged 30 years or older and will include those immunised early on in the vaccination programme – for example, adults aged 75 and over or health and care workers.
All the trial sites are working on ways of including people in research from a wide variety of backgrounds and individuals from ethnic minorities are encouraged to apply.
The initial results, expected in September, will help inform decisions by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) on any potential booster programme from autumn this year, ensuring the country’s most vulnerable are given the strongest possible protection over the winter period.
Prof. Krishna Chatterjee, Director of NIHR Clinical Research Facility in Cambridge (pictured right), who will be leading the trial at CUH, said: 
“Following the exemplary work our Cambridgeshire teams have already carried out to find effective vaccines for COVID-19, we are excited to now be able to offer the chance to take part in this next, vital study to people in the region. We hope as many volunteers as possible who are over the age of 30 and who’ve already received two doses of a vaccine will join us in this important research.”
Dr Helen Macdonald, Chief Operating Officer for the NIHR’s Clinical Research Network in the Eastern region, said:
“The launch of this clinical trial, testing the effects of a third dose of COVID-19 vaccine, offers a chance to reflect on how far our UK research community has come over the past year. Our NIHR colleagues have been instrumental in the progress that’s been made, but we couldn’t have reached this point without the people who volunteer to help by taking part in research. We hope as many people as possible will take the opportunity to help support this research too.”
Rt Hon Matt Hancock MP, Health and Social Care Secretary, said:
“We will do everything we can to future-proof this country from pandemics and other threats to our health security, and the data from this world-first clinical trial will help shape the plans for our booster programme later this year.
“I urge everyone who has had both doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, and is eligible, to sign up for this study and play a part in protecting the most vulnerable people in this country and around the world for months and years to come.”
Volunteering for COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials
People wishing to volunteer to support clinical trials can sign up for information on Covid-19 vaccine trials with the NHS Covid-19 Vaccine Research Registry, developed in partnership with NHS Digital. It is helping large numbers of people to be recruited into trials, meaning more effective vaccines for coronavirus can be found as soon as possible.
The service was commissioned as part of the UK Government’s Vaccine Taskforce in conjunction with the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and the Northern Ireland, Scottish and Welsh Governments.
Anyone living in the UK can sign up online to take part in the trials through the NHS, giving permission for researchers to contact you if they think you’re a good fit. Once you sign up, you can withdraw at any time and request that your details be removed from the COVID-19 Vaccine Research Registry. The process takes about 5 minutes to complete.
