Exeter in third-jab booster trials

People over 30 can volunteer

Exeter is one of the first places in the world to explore how different covid booster vaccines help immunity.

Volunteers are being invited to receive a third booster jab in a new clinical trial which will provide vital data on the impact of a third dose on immune responses.

Called the Cov-Boost study and backed by £19 million of government funding, it's being run at Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust and is led by University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust.

The trial gives scientists from around the world and the experts behind the UK’s covid vaccination programme a better idea of how effective boosters of each vaccine are in protecting the individual from the virus.

The initial findings, expected in September, will help inform decisions by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) on any potential booster programme from autumn this year.

The trial will look at seven different vaccines as potential boosters, given at least 10 to 12 weeks after a second dose as part of the ongoing vaccination programme. One booster will be provided to each volunteer and could be a different brand to the one they were originally vaccinated with.

Vaccines being trialled include Oxford/AstraZeneca, Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, Novavax, Valneva, Janssen and Curevac, as well as a control group.

Participants will be 30 years or older and will include those immunised early on in the vaccination programme - for example, adults aged 75 and over or health and care workers.

The study will take place at 16 NIHR-supported sites across the UK, and will include a total of 2,886 patients. All participants will be monitored throughout the study for any potential side effects and will have bloods taken to measure their immune responses at days 28, 84, 308 and 365, with a small number having additional blood tests at other times.

All the trial sites are working on ways of including people in research from a wide variety of backgrounds and individuals from ethnic minorities are encouraged to apply.

Dr Ray Sheridan, consultant physician at Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust, who will lead the study locally, said: “Vaccines have been shown to be effective against SARS CoV-19. We don’t yet know if a booster third jab against covid-19 will be needed this autumn or not. This study will help answer that.

"We are looking for NHS staff who were vaccinated in December and January, as well as members of the public in older age groups, who were also vaccinated in that initial wave. The Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital research team and our local NIHR colleagues are excited to be selected as one of 12 UK sites to run this study which will help guide what the UK’s vaccine strategy will be this Autumn. If you are interested in getting involved please email us on rde-tr.cov-boost@nhs.net”