A Perthshire doctor leading the latest Covid-19 vaccine trial in Tayside said the team has had a “phenomenal” response so far.
Ninewells respiratory consultant Dr Philip Short said 1,000 people had emailed their interest on the first morning of the recruitment drive.
NHS Tayside and the University of Dundee are looking for volunteers to take part in the clinical trial launched on Monday.
Dr Short, from Longforgan, was pleased at the initial response to the call.
He said: “It has been pretty phenomenal. There were 1,000 emails this morning.”
Dr Short, also a honorary senior lecturer at Dundee University, said this was the final stage of the study – phase three. He said the Tayside team hoped to have recruited all its participants by Christmas.
“Our study gives the people of Tayside and Fife the opportunity to get involved in Covid-19 vaccine research.
“This is the first study using this potential vaccine to be trialled in the UK and focuses on the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine in tackling Covid-19.
We would encourage anyone to get in touch with us about our vaccine study. Together we can help to eliminate Covid-19.”
400 Tayside volunteers wanted
Professor Jacob George, Dundee University school of medicine and R&D director for NHS Tayside, said: “We knew that the people of Tayside and Fife would want to help us with this trial.
“We have been delighted that such large numbers have made contact with us in such a short period of time.
“Everyone involved with this trial wants to express their gratitude to every volunteer who has contacted us so far, but it is imperative that people who wish to volunteer continue to register their interest.
“This trial depends upon having as broad a cross-section of the population as possible and if you are interested then we ask you to please get in touch. We still want to hear from you.”
This latest vaccine by Belgian pharmaceutical company Janssen – a subsidiary of Johnson and Johnson – is the third such Covid-19 vaccine being trialled in the UK.
Tayside is seeking to recruit 400 volunteers and is the only Scottish site of the 17 UK sites trialling the Janssen vaccine.
A total of 6,000 participants are being sought in the UK and 30,000 globally. Participants will receive an initial injection followed by a booster 57 days later.
The jags will be given at the Clinical Research Centre (CRC) at Ninewells Hospital. Follow-up visits will either be at the Ninewells CRC or the Victoria Hospita.
Volunteers will be asked to complete a daily diary via a mobile phone app, monitoring their response to the trial vaccine.
High risk patients welcomed
NHS Tayside chief executive Grant Archibald said it was “fantastic to see NHS Tayside leading on research into a vaccine for Covid-19.”
He added: “Many thanks to everyone who is volunteering for the trials.”
The Tayside team hopes to recruit a representative sample from the local population and would particularly welcome those in high-risk groups of Covid-19.
The trial would not be suitable for anyone who is pregnant – or aiming to become pregnant in the next 10 months – or for anyone on long-term steroids, doctors said.
Anyone interested in taking part should email their details to Tay.vaccinetrial@nhs.Scot
