Health officials announced Wednesday that the University of Kansas Medical Center and Children’s Mercy Kansas City will be bringing a COVID-19 vaccine trial to the Kansas City area.Officials said the two hospitals will lead the trial of an AstraZeneca vaccine in the region as part of the COVID-19 Prevention Network. The network, known as CoVPN, was created by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in response to the pandemic.The specific vaccine is AZD1222, it was originally developed by Oxford University before being purchased by AstraZeneca. “This vaccine is very exciting,” said Dr. Mario Castro on Monday’s University of Kansas Health System Panel. Castro is the vice chair for Clinical and Transitional Research and a pulmonologist at the University of Kansas School of Medicine Department of Internal Medicine. “There’s been so much thrown at this coronavirus in terms of treatment and prevention, and we ultimately know that the best strategy for this virus is a vaccine,” Castro said. Officials said the vaccine is due to launch in mid-to-late August, and it’s the second of three phases for the trial funded by the NIH, and sponsored by AstraZeneca. The study of the trial is focusing on efforts at more than 100 sites nationwide. Castro and Dr. Barbara Pahud, Research Director of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Children’s Mercy, and Clinical Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the KU School of Medicine, will serve as co-principal investigators to the trial. “We are working to develop and conduct studies to ensure rapid and thorough evaluation of COVID-19 vaccines,” Pahud said. “Safety is our No. 1 priority. I would not offer this vaccine if I were not ready to take it myself.” The trial will involve around 30,000 participants nationally — with around 1,500 of those participants coming from the Kansas-Missouri region. Organizers are recruiting adults over the age of 18 who are considered high-risk for coming into contact with COVID-19. Participants will be randomized to determine who receives the vaccine, and who receives a placebo. Two out of every three participants in the study will receive the vaccine. People who stay at home and drastically limit contact with others will not be eligible. Once the trial is finished, participants receiving the placebo will be eligible for the vaccine. In a news release, Castro said results of a pilot study into this vaccine, published recently in The Lancet, showed promising results on more than 1,000 clinical trial participants. Side effects were reported to be mild, and included mostly headaches, body aches and fatigue. “In fact, in over 1,000 patients, there were no serious adverse events reported, which is very heartening,” Castro said.If you’d like to volunteer for the trial to receive the vaccine, you can register at the CoVPN website, just include a site reference as KUMC. Or, if you live in the Kansas City area, call Shelby for screening at 913-574-3006. and in Wichita, call 316-293-1833.
KANSAS CITY, Kan. —
Health officials announced Wednesday that the University of Kansas Medical Center and Children’s Mercy Kansas City will be bringing a COVID-19 vaccine trial to the Kansas City area.
Officials said the two hospitals will lead the trial of an AstraZeneca vaccine in the region as part of the COVID-19 Prevention Network. The network, known as CoVPN, was created by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in response to the pandemic.
The specific vaccine is AZD1222, it was originally developed by Oxford University before being purchased by AstraZeneca.
“This vaccine is very exciting,” said Dr. Mario Castro on Monday’s University of Kansas Health System Panel.
Castro is the vice chair for Clinical and Transitional Research and a pulmonologist at the University of Kansas School of Medicine Department of Internal Medicine.
“There’s been so much thrown at this coronavirus in terms of treatment and prevention, and we ultimately know that the best strategy for this virus is a vaccine,” Castro said.
Officials said the vaccine is due to launch in mid-to-late August, and it’s the second of three phases for the trial funded by the NIH, and sponsored by AstraZeneca.
The study of the trial is focusing on efforts at more than 100 sites nationwide.
Castro and Dr. Barbara Pahud, Research Director of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Children’s Mercy, and Clinical Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the KU School of Medicine, will serve as co-principal investigators to the trial.
“We are working to develop and conduct studies to ensure rapid and thorough evaluation of COVID-19 vaccines,” Pahud said. “Safety is our No. 1 priority. I would not offer this vaccine if I were not ready to take it myself.”
The trial will involve around 30,000 participants nationally — with around 1,500 of those participants coming from the Kansas-Missouri region.
Organizers are recruiting adults over the age of 18 who are considered high-risk for coming into contact with COVID-19. Participants will be randomized to determine who receives the vaccine, and who receives a placebo. Two out of every three participants in the study will receive the vaccine. People who stay at home and drastically limit contact with others will not be eligible. Once the trial is finished, participants receiving the placebo will be eligible for the vaccine.
In a news release, Castro said results of a pilot study into this vaccine, published recently in The Lancet, showed promising results on more than 1,000 clinical trial participants. Side effects were reported to be mild, and included mostly headaches, body aches and fatigue.
“In fact, in over 1,000 patients, there were no serious adverse events reported, which is very heartening,” Castro said.
If you’d like to volunteer for the trial to receive the vaccine, you can register at the CoVPN website, just include a site reference as KUMC. Or, if you live in the Kansas City area, call Shelby for screening at 913-574-3006. and in Wichita, call 316-293-1833.