A new COVID-19 vaccine trialled by NHS staff has been given the go-ahead for use – leading to praise for the team involved.
The Novavax vaccine was given official approval today by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority.
The Tees Valley Research Alliance, including North Tees and Hartlepool, have all contributed to this research. Now they are thanking every member of the community who volunteered to take part.
Jane Greenaway, associate director, said: “We are delighted to finally be able to celebrate this fantastic achievement.
“The success of the trial has been down to two things – the staff involved and all of the participants.
“Staff from three individual trusts have collaborated and worked together seamlessly. Without this fantastic alliance already in place, we simply would not have been able to host such a high profile trial.
“And without all of our volunteers, we couldn’t have played the significant role we have. Every volunteer has wanted to play their part in helping find an effective COVID-19 vaccine. And they have waited patiently for this to happen, following delays in the approval process.
“Without the contribution of volunteers to research trials like this, we wouldn’t be able to test treatments and find the positive answers we need.”
The Novavax study is the largest ever double blind, placebo-controlled trial to be undertaken in the UK.
It recruited over 15,000 participants from 35 research UK sites – including more than 500 from the Durham Tees Valley area.
Kerry Colling, project manager said: “This is testament to everyone involved in this research.
“It’s not only shown how powerful our research alliance is in the region but the power each and every person has who chooses to take part in a research trial.”