COVID-19 vaccine transmission study launched at colleges

• A study started on Thursday to see how Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine prevents the virus from spreading.
• The scientists plan to recruit 12,000 college students on 21 campuses for the clinical trial.
• They hope this will tell us how vaccines prevent asymptomatic infections and stop transmission.
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The scientists launched an ambitious study on Thursday to find out how well the modern coronavirus vaccine prevents people from spreading the virus to others.

We know that the injection of Moderna is very good for preventing people from getting sick with the disease. But we don’t know whether vaccinated people can still harbor the virus – perhaps without symptoms – and pass it on to others.

To find this out, the researchers plan to recruit 12,000 students on 21 university campuses, including the University of Maryland, Texas A&M and Indiana University. Those interested in participating can register at PreventCOVIDU.org.

“We hope that in the next five or more months we will be able to answer the very important question of whether vaccinated people are infected asymptomatically and, if that happens, they spread the infection to others,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, the leading disease expert infectious diseases, said Friday at a meeting of the White House task force COVID-19.

Half of the volunteers will receive Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine immediately, while the other half will receive the vaccines four months later. Although the pay varies, some student volunteers can get almost $ 1,000 to participate.

Researchers will monitor volunteers to see how vaccination prevents coronavirus infections, including asymptomatic cases, and reduces viral transmission between their close contacts. Every day, volunteers collect nose swabs, place them in a barcode bottle and leave them in the collection boxes. The samples will be sent to laboratories to check the coronavirus.

The trial is expected to show results in September, Dr. Larry Corey, a virologist at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, said in an interview. Corey led the test, helping to design the study and advocating for funding since November, Insider reported earlier.

Scientists pointed to colleges as ideal places to conduct this research. A national study found nearly 400,000 COVID-19 cases on more than 1,800 campuses since they reopened last fall.

“High-density housing, the urge to socialize and less fear of serious illness in young people are factors that contribute to the high SARS-CoV-2 infection load on university campuses,” studies Holly Janes, professor at Fred Hutch, a leader, said in a statement.

Responding to one of the biggest unknowns about COVID-19 vaccines

The first shots of COVID-19, from Moderna and Pfizer, appeared to be extremely effective on the data released for the first time in November. The main purpose of these studies was to examine the symptomatic cases of COVID-19, in part because it was an easier metric to track.

These studies involved tens of thousands of people and showed that the injections were incredibly effective in preventing the development of symptomatic COVID-19. In Moderna’s study, the two-dose vaccine was 94% effective in preventing cases of COVID-19 when compared to people who received placebo injections.

Initial studies left open the possibility that immunized people may still be vulnerable to the spread of the virus, potentially as unknown asymptomatic carriers.

“It’s definitely a stranger,” said Corey. “In my circles, it is very well outlined that you do not know if you can transmit asymptomatically and therefore you should still be careful with people who are not vaccinated.”

This uncertainty has been one of the main reasons why public health officials urge people, including vaccinated individuals, to continue wearing masks and distancing themselves socially.

Although real-world data has given hopeful signs that injections can reduce infections, this study tries to answer that question rigorously.

A delay in funding means that the study may take longer to find an answer

Glenn Asakawa / University of Colorado

Although the original goal was to start this research in January, it took longer than expected to secure federal funding to run the study, reported Peter Loftus of The Wall Street Journal in December. The emergence of variants, the increased supply of vaccines and the recognition that the virus was likely to become endemic helped boost the study’s proposal, Corey said.

The National Institute of Health’s infectious disease unit is funding the test, and Corey said the funding was in the “tens of millions”.

The delay can make it more difficult for the test to generate a timely response. The US government is pushing to make all American adults eligible for vaccines by May 1. For volunteers who are randomly selected to receive the injection four months later, that means waiting until July.

Corey hopes that a sense of altruism will convince volunteers to continue the trial

The five-month follow-up period will also bleed until the summer, when some volunteers are likely to leave campuses. This can make it more difficult to track or keep people in the study. Corey said test sites will seek to recruit students who wish to stay on campus or live nearby, and he expects a sense of altruism to retain volunteers, even if they have access to a vaccine outside of the test.

“The purpose of volunteering is to help the country answer that question for itself and for its parents and their relatives and their communities,” said Corey.

The biggest obstacle, getting funding for the test, has been overcome. Research can provide the best data to answer a question that will inform how quickly people can return to a world without masking and social detachment.

And in the process, some college students can get the vaccine now and get paid to help answer that question. Remuneration varies by location to make up for cost of living differences, and volunteers can earn up to $ 947 if they participate fully, said a Fred Hutchinson representative.