UK COVID vaccine trial participants to be given top up doses

People in Britain who took part in trials of COVID-19 vaccines which are yet to be approved, such as Novavax, will be offered two doses of another approved vaccine from next week, UK health officials said here on Friday.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said that while the UK recognises those who are in COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials as fully vaccinated, the majority of other countries currently do not.

The new measure will allow trial participants to have the necessary certification status to travel abroad to countries which do not currently recognise trial vaccinations.

"The measures we have taken will allow UK COVID-19 vaccine trial participants to travel freely overseas once they have had the additional vaccinations. Those volunteers now have the flexibility to make a decision for themselves so they can, for example, visit loved ones abroad," said Jonathan Van-Tam, Deputy Chief Medical Officer Professor.

"We should be very clear that the results from these trials benefit the whole world, and it has to be said that if more countries around the world had reciprocated by allowing UK volunteers to enjoy fully vaccinated status for overseas travel, these measures would not have been necessary," he said.

The additional doses will initially be offered to those taking part in the Novavax trial, which includes the vast majority of those in ongoing trials for vaccines not yet approved for deployment. The offer will then be rolled out to participants in other relevant trials within the coming weeks. Novavax participants will be offered two doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, with an eight-week interval between first and second doses.

In addition, people who have received both doses of a vaccine as part of a clinical trial will also be offered a booster jab, if eligible in line with the wider boosters advice from the UK's Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). This is to ensure the protection they've received from vaccination as part of the trial is prolonged over the winter months.

"I very much welcome this development on behalf of the more than 15,000 participants in the Novavax trial and my colleagues in the 35 UK trial sites," said Professor Paul Heath, Principle Investigator of the Novavax clinical trial.

"For too long the participants have been disadvantaged in terms of international travel because this vaccine is not yet approved for deployment – but trial participants now have the flexibility to receive booster doses, or additional doses for travel purposes, if they wish to," he said.

There are around 52,000 people currently taking part in trials across the UK, with 21,000 given a vaccine not yet approved for deployment by the UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). Around 15,000 of these are taking part in the Novavax clinical trial.

The DHSC said the Vaccine Taskforce and the MHRA are working with the vaccine companies to help ensure their COVID-19 vaccines are authorised as quickly as possible, if they meet the high standards of safety, quality and effectiveness.

UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid had appealed to global health leaders last month at the G20 meeting for clinical trial pioneers to have their vaccination status recognised globally.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)