England Approves Trial Of Third Booster Dose Of Seven Covid Vaccines, Initial Results Likely In September

Determined to beat Covid-19, Britain has launched a booster dose of vaccine. The UK was the first country in the world to authorize a vaccine against coronavirus. The country had in December last year approved Pfizer’s vaccine, setting the stage to start the vaccination drive. The country has now launched a third booster dose trial. The trial nod has been granted for seven different vaccines. This is the first time when a country has approved a new clinical trial. The trial will assess the efficacy rate of the third booster on immune responses. All the vaccines currently available are two-dose, meaning they are administered after a certain gap. The seven vaccines that have been permitted trial include those developed by Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, Oxford-AstraZeneca, Novavax, Curevac, Janssen, and Valneva.

The trial will be named Cov-Boost. It will begin in June. The trial will involve around 3,000 people. The participants will be of all ages. They must have taken their first dose of vaccine in December last year or in January this year. The trial will be entirely funded by the government. The University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust will conduct the trial at 18 different sites in the country. The government has estimated that the trial will cost approximately 19 million pounds. The objective is to find out whether people need another booster dose to make their immunity stronger. It will find which vaccine is useful and can be used as a third booster dose. The trial will also tell about the side effects of booster dose like very sore arms, high fevers, and more.

The trial will help government advisers to decide if a booster is necessary. All the participants will be asked to maintain diaries. They will have to note side-effects if they face, if any, after the third dose. A control group will be set up that will be given a dummy vaccine before the drug is given to the participants. The immune responses in participants will be measured scientifically three times. Their immune responses will be tested for the first time after one month, the second time after three months, and the third time after 12 months. The process to test immune response includes a blood test for antibodies to Covid. A high level of antibodies means a person’s body can fight against infection. The government expects that initial data will become available by September.