Dinnington man among Rotherham volunteers to sign up for new Covid vaccine trial

More than 100 Rotherham residents have volunteered to take part in the trial of a new Covid-19 vaccination.
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The vaccine, developed by Valvena, is the only inactivated, adjuvanted – meaning an ingredient is added to create a stronger immune response – Covid-19 vaccine in development in Europe.

More than 100 volunteers in Rotherham took part in the study, receiving two vaccines of either the Valneva or the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Results of the study are expected by the autumn and will be submitted to the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency for regulatory approval, subject to the data.

More than 100 Rotherham residents have volunteered to take part in the trial of a new Covid-19 vaccination.More than 100 Rotherham residents have volunteered to take part in the trial of a new Covid-19 vaccination.
More than 100 Rotherham residents have volunteered to take part in the trial of a new Covid-19 vaccination.
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Anil Hormis, principal investigator leading the study and research and development director at The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust said: “During the Covid pandemic in the hospital, we have had a huge focus on participating in the urgent Public Health research studies to ensure our hospitalised patients had access to all the latest treatments for Covid.

“In this next phase, I am really pleased that we are getting involved in Covid-19 vaccine research.

"I am really excited that we have been running and recruiting patients to the Valneva study which will help evaluate another vaccine that can be used to protect our patients in Rotherham.” .

Among the volunteers was Chris Turner, aged 50, from Dinnington.

Chris had not been called for a vaccine because he had recently moved home and had yet to register with a doctor.

He said: “My wife mentioned about the trial at Rotherham Trust and I fell into the 50 age category.

"They were keen to get people for the trial so I thought I’d give it a go. The more vaccines there are for people the better.”

If Valneva’s vaccine is shown to be effective, up to 250 million vaccine doses could be supplied to the UK and other countries around the world.