Patients at Peterborough GP surgery given chance to take part in Covid vaccine trial

Many registered with the medical practice on Lansdowne Road received a text over the weekend informing them that they had been identified as a potential candidate for the vaccine trial taking place at Lakeside’s Research Centre in Corby.

The trial is sponsored by US-based biotechnology firm Novavax and is separate to the Pfizer vaccine that was reported to have a 90% success rate on Monday (November 9).

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The trial is in its third phase and was launched in the UK on September 23.

It is investigating the safety and effectiveness of the company’s NVX-CoV2373 vaccine and will be recruiting up to 10,000 participants aged between 18 and 84 to help with this. A parallel study will be running alongside this in America.

The trial will last for up to 56 weeks and involves six visits to the clinic, two of these will be for the injections, one on the first day and one three weeks later.

Participants will receive either the vaccine, a mixture of the vaccine and an already approved seasonal flu vaccine, a combination of the seasonal flu vaccine and a placebo or just a placebo. A placebo is an injection that looks just like the real vaccine but has no medical benefit.

Participants are free to leave at any time and will receive reimbursement for travel expenses.

A spokesperson for Lakeside said: “Lakeside Healthcare is very pleased to be playing its part in the challenge to identify a vaccination that can help halt the spread of Coronavirus.

“With the number of infections rising - regionally, nationally and internationally - identifying a vaccine that can save lives is hugely important.

“Because of Lakeside Healthcare’s reputation in clinical research, it is one of a small number of organisations across the UK that has been invited to participate in the trial.

“We welcome the involvement of patients registered with Lakeside and elsewhere in this landmark trial.”

For more information on the Covid-19 vaccine trails, visit the government’s website by clicking here.