The University of Nottingham has begun its recruitment process for its human trials "of huge importance" which aim to find an effective vaccine for Covid-19.

The study will enrol up to 10,260 adults and children and will involve a number of partner institutions across the country, including the University of Nottingham Health Service, who will test a vaccine developed at the University of Oxford ('ChAdOx1 nCoV-19').

Workers at risk of high exposure, particularly frontline health care workers in the East Midlands region aged between 18 and 55 years, are initially being invited to take part in the study, followed by volunteers aged 56-69 years and 70 years and over.

Screening procedures began on Tuesday, May 26, however those willing to take part can still register their interest.

Covid-19 vaccine vials and syringe; The University of Nottingham is testing a vaccine developed at the University of Oxford

The study is one of 41 urgent Covid-19 studies supported by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) in a national response to the disease.

Dr David Turner, honorary consultant in clinical microbiology at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust and associate professor at the University of Nottingham, is lead researcher for the trial in Nottingham

He said: "This next phase is of huge importance: this trial will test whether the Covid-19 vaccine can provide protection in the wider population.

"It is incredibly important that we recruit people for this important study and we are very grateful for the support of the trial volunteers in helping test whether this new vaccine could protect humans against the pandemic coronavirus.

"The trial will also evaluate how well the vaccine induces immune responses and protection in older adults”.

The phase I trial in healthy adult volunteers began in April and more than 1,000 immunisations have been completed, with follow-ups currently ongoing.

The phase II part of the study involves expanding the age range of people the vaccine is assessed in to include a small number of older adults and children.

This phase includes those:

  • Aged 56-69
  • Aged over 70
  • Aged between 5-12 years

For these groups, researchers will be assessing the immune system's response to the vaccine in people of different ages, to find out if there is variation in how well the immune system responds in older people or children.

The phase III part of the study - the stage that is currently in recruitment - involves assessing how the vaccine works in a large number of people over the age of 18 to see how well the vaccine works to prevent people from becoming infected.

Adult participants in both the Phase II and Phase III groups will be randomised to receive one or two doses of either the 'ChAdOx1 nCoV-19' vaccine or a licensed vaccine (MenACWY) that will be used as a ‘control’ for comparison.

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'ChAdOx1 nCoV-19' is made from a virus (ChAdOx1), which is a weakened version of a common cold virus (adenovirus) that causes infections in chimpanzees, that has been genetically changed so that it is impossible for it to replicate in humans.

Sarah Gilbert, professor of vaccinology at the Jenner Institute in Oxford, said: “The Covid-19 vaccine trial team have been working hard on assessing the safety and immunogenicity of ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, and preparing to assess vaccine efficacy.

"We have had a lot of interest already from people over the age of 55 years who were not eligible to take part in the phase I study, and we will now be able to include older age groups to continue the vaccine assessment. We will also be including more study sites, in different parts of the country.”

This study aims to assess how well people across a broad range of ages could be protected from Covid-19 with this new vaccine called ChAdOx1 nCoV-19.

People interested in taking part can visit the website for more information and to register: www.covid19vaccinetrial.co.uk/participate-trial