Vanderbilt Seeking Volunteers For COVID-19 Vaccine Trial

Later this month, Vanderbilt University Medical Center will start enlisting 1,000 volunteers for a COVID-19 vaccine trial.

The university said Wednesday the vaccine was developed by Moderna Inc. in collaboration with the Vaccine Research Center of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which is part of the National Institutes of Health.

“We are pressing full speed ahead to provide an answer to this pandemic, while also taking the necessary steps to ensure that new vaccines and therapeutic drugs are both safe and effective,” said Buddy Creech, the director of Vanderbilt’s Vaccine Research Program.

The university says the phase 3 trial will be placebo-controlled and randomized. It will be open for people 18 years old and older.

The goal of the trial is to determine the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine and how long it protects people.

Vanderbilt’s medical center is one of a handful of U.S. sites participating in a phase 3 trial.

So far, only one vaccine has been approved for limited use.