The University of Kansas Medical Center will participate in a COVID-19 vaccine trial in August, according to officials.
Dr. Mario Castro, vice chair for clinical and translational research and a pulmonologist at the KU School of Medicine, said Monday morning at a news conference that KU would participate in the trial of a COVID-19 vaccine originally developed by Oxford University.
KU Med Center will be part of a nationwide trial for one of the vaccines, and there will be 30,000 participants in America, according to Dr. Castro. This particular vaccine is being developed by Astra Zeneca, he said. Antibodies will be measured 15 days after the two injections that will be given, he said. Participants will be studied for two years.
Dr. Castro said they are hoping to enroll more than 1,260 persons in the vaccine trial at KU Medical Center over 60 days, starting in August.
There has already been a smaller trial of this vaccine, he added, and among 1,000 patients tested, there were no major adverse effects reported, although participants may experience symptoms such as headaches, low grade fevers and malaise.
Dr. Castro said one out of three persons participating in the trial will get a placebo, while two out of three will get the vaccine. After the trial is over, those who participated in it will be eligible to get the vaccine when it becomes available, he said.
Dr. Castro said one-fourth of the 30,000 people nationwide in the trial should be over 65. He also said he hopes health care workers participate in it, and others whose work may bring them into contact with people, including teachers, as well as people in minority groups.
Although the trials are being expedited, they are doing them in the safest way possible, according to Dr. Castro.
Those who would like to volunteer for the vaccine trial at KU Medical Center may register their names at the website https://www.coronaviruspreventionnetwork.org/, and enter “KUMC” when prompted for the name of the institution.
Another way to register for the vaccine trial is to call 913-574-3006, he said. Participants should live within a 100-mile range, and there will be trips back and forth to KU Medical Center from time to time. The vaccine trial also will be held in Wichita.
Dr. Dana Hawkinson reported that KU Health System had 33 patients on Monday morning, including 11 in the intensive care unit and four on ventilators. The case numbers were down slightly from Friday.
To see more about the vaccine trials and other topics discussed at the KU Health System news conference Monday morning, visit https://www.facebook.com/kuhospital/videos/1141631086203192.
Residents may visit the UG COVID-19 website at https://alpha.wycokck.org/Coronavirus-COVID-19-Information or call 311 for more information.
COVID-19 data for the metro area is on the KC Region COVID-19 Resource Hub at http://marc-gis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/1c93961075454558b3bf0dfad014feae
The value of social distancing and wearing a mask was demonstrated by the KU doctors, who went into a walk-in freezer to show how far the virus and breath can spread. Masks stopped the breath and particles from spreading. To see the video, visit https://www.facebook.com/kuhospital/videos/2378490412455079.
For information on how to make an easy no-sew mask, visit https://wyandotteonline.com/how-to-make-a-no-sew-cloth-mask/.
The state’s COVID-19 test page is at https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/280/COVID-19-Testing.
Wyandotte County is currently under Phase 3. See covid.ks.gov.
The CDC’s COVID-19 web page is at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/index.html.