SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif. — UC San Diego Health will be among the participants in a national trial of a COVID-19 vaccine set to begin Monday, officials announced Friday. UCSD Health and the Altman Clinical and Translational Research Institute, part of UC San Diego School of Medicine, are one of three trial sites in San Diego County in addition to M3 Wake Research in San Diego and eStudySite in La Mesa, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.
The trial sites will assess the “efficacy and immunogenicity” of a vaccine intended to protect against SARS-CoV-2 - the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19, according to officials. Sites across the country are participating in the hopes of developing and confirming an effective vaccine by the end of the year.
The National Institutes of Health’s newly formed COVID-19 Prevention Network is sponsoring the trial based on a vaccine prototype developed by Massachusetts pharmaceutical company Moderna.
“Our country and the world are facing an unprecedented pandemic that has already killed more than 600,000 people worldwide,” said Stephen Spector, MD, Distinguished Professor of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases in the UC San Diego School of Medicine.
Dr. Spector is the principal investigator for the UC San Diego arm of the vaccine trial.
“A vaccine is desperately needed to help control the epidemic. We are excited that UC San Diego will be able to offer the San Diego community the opportunity to participate in a Phase III vaccine trial that, if successful, has the potential to change the course of the epidemic,” he said.
New vaccines typically require years of research and development, according to UCSD Health officials, but data from Phase I of the Moderna vaccine’s clinical trial was encouraging enough that the NIH along with the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases and Moderna expedited the process to launch the Phase III trial.
"I've been at NIH for 27 years. I've been NIH director for 11 years. I have never seen anything come together this way as we have tried to do and are now doing for the development of vaccines," said Francis Collins the director of the National Institute of Health.
UC San Diego is one of three participating trial sites in the region and expects to enroll approximately 500 subjects. Sites across the country seeking to recruit up to 30,000 participants in total.
Participants in the trial must be 18 years or older with no known history of SARS-CoV-2 infection. The trial will give preference to participants who live in locations or under circumstances that put them at appreciable risk including.
- persons working in essential jobs, such as first responders, health care or grocery stores
- persons living in densely populated residential environments or living/working in congregated facilities, such as nursing homes
- persons belonging to demographic groups disproportionately impacted by the pandemic, such as older persons, persons with underlying health conditions or some racial/ethnic groups, such as African Americans, Latinx and Native American populations
For more information about participating in the Moderna trial at UC San Diego, click here.