Trial vaccine against COVID-19 starts at Hammersmith Hospital

By Mireia Cuevas

Image courtesy of Imperial College London

Imperial College London has developed a trial vaccine for COVID-19 based on an initial study led by the University of Oxford. Last May, the project started with trials conducted at multiple centres across the UK, including Oxford, Southampton, Bristol and the NIHR Imperial Clinical Research Facility at Hammersmith Hospital.

The trial vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNtech is currently on phase three, and its results suggest that it is effective on people of all ages, races and ethnicities. These conclusions are based on results after two doses were given to more than 41,000 people around the world.

Volunteers on the trial have mentioned that they suffered from slight headaches after the first dose which disappeared after the second, but no major side effects. Among them is Kensington councillor Greg Hammond, who volunteered after seeing an NHS tweet related to the development of the trial vaccine. He has since been given regular doses of the vaccine. He was administered his first dose in May and had a booster in October. He will finish the trial in October 2021 with one last dose. He said that ‘there is a very low risk while trying out this vaccine, but a very high social benefit’.

UK’s Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced funding of £22.5 million to help fast-track Imperial College’s development of the vaccine, and during one of the government’s daily coronavirus briefings he said: “In the long run, the best way to defeat coronavirus is through a vaccine.”

A development team will soon begin screening more participants for the trial; members of the public can register their interest by signing up via the NIHR Imperial Clinical Research Facility Healthy Volunteers database.

In the meantime, developer companies say they will now apply for authorisation for emergency use of the jab in the US.

Listen to Greg Hammond discussing his experience here: