Thousands to be given Covid-19 vaccine in new experimental trials in Yorkshire

Covid-19 vaccine trials to start in Yorkshire
Covid-19 vaccine trials to start in Yorkshire Credit: PA

Over two thousand people are to take part in new Coronavirus vaccine trials across Yorkshire.

Three days of tests are to take place in Leeds, Harrogate and York using the vaccine devised by Imperial College London.

The jab has already undergone rigorous safety checks under phase one - and now around 2,250 Yorkshire volunteers are needed to come forward for this phase two of the human testing.

People will be given the jab during a 90-minute consultation.

The testing will involve 250 people a day being given the vaccine at each centre - in Leeds, York and Harrogate.

If the trials are successful, the vaccine could be available early next year Credit: PA

The trials are being run by Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.

At present, a number of locations throughout Leeds and North Yorkshire are being considered as recruitment and follow-up centres to deliver the trial and ensure that everyone who wants to take part can.

If the trials are successful, it is hoped that the vaccine will be offered to everyone across the UK early next year.

People are being asked to register now for the vaccine, with the injections due to take place early next month.

To take part in the vaccine study, people can register on the website https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/research/coronavirus-vaccine-research/

It is the second vaccine to undergo trials in our region.

Over 30,000 people in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire are currently taking part in trials using a vaccine developed at Oxford University.

Volunteers have signed up to have the experimental vaccine in three schemes:

  • Hull and east Yorkshire (HU postcode area)

  • Lincolnshire (LN postcode area)

  • Sheffield region, including Rotherham, Barnsley and Chesterfield (S postcode area)

People can still come forward to take part in the Oxford University trials by registering online on https://covid19vaccinetrial.co.uk/participate-trial

Scientists at Imperial College London - who have developed the vaccine to be tested in Leeds, York and Harrogate, say phase one of the trials had extremely promising results.

There were no worrying safety issues in the initial number vaccinated.

Professor Robin Shattock, who heads the team, said that enough doses would be available for everyone in the UK if the results of the trials are good.

Professor Robin Shattock - leading the vaccine research at Imperial College London Credit: PA

He said: “We anticipate if everything goes really well that we’ll get an answer as to whether it works by early next year.

“And we have put in place the infrastructure to make that vaccine for the whole of the UK.

“So, assuming that the funding is there to purchase that vaccine, we could have that vaccine rolled out across the UK in the first half of next year.”

Research is taking place all over the world into developing a vaccine.

Prof Shattock said he was confident that there was a good chance that Britain will successfully develop a jab.

“I think we’re very lucky in the UK that we have two very strong candidates, the one from Imperial, the one from Oxford, so we’re pretty well placed, but there’s still not a certainty that either of those two will work.

“We hope we will be the candidate, one of the candidates, that is successful, but there’s no certainty with any individual approach.”