Novavax study results show 89.7% efficacy

Results from the Novavax vaccine study recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine have shown the vaccine to have an overall efficacy of 89.7%. The vaccine has also been shown to be 83.4% effective after just one dose and 83.6% effective against the B1.1.7 variant.

Novavax study results show 89.7% efficacy

Oxford Health was one of 33 sites across the UK to host the study which was based at the NIHR cognitive health Clinical Research Facility (CRF), ​in collaboration with the NIHR Thames Valley and South Midlands CRN (NIHR TVSM CRN) and the Jenner Institute, Oxford. 462 participants ​took part in the study which is still ongoing, with publication of further results expected soon.

Dr Katharine Smith, Associate Principal Investigator, said:

‘As one of over 30 UK sites collaborating on the Novavax COVID vaccine study, the NIHR Oxford cognitive health CRF and Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust have made a material contribution to tackling the COVID pandemic globally. This is in no small part down to the hard work and flexibility of our team in Oxford who rapidly adapted ​and worked intensively to set up, recruit and support 462 participants at our site. We are proud to see the publication of such positive results and, as the study is still ongoing, look forward to hearing further outcomes in the near future.’

Staff at the CRF worked to an incredibly short timeline to set up the study in just four days and exceeded their recruitment targets in less than a month.

Claudia Hurducas, Clinical Research Facility Manager said:

‘Setting up the Novavax study at the CRF with very little lead time was a huge challenge for the team. Many of our staff had not been involved in this kind of study before and the learning curve was a steep one as we transformed our facility to accommodate the needs of a specialised vaccine study.  We began the process of recruiting hundreds of participants over a short period and everyone involved rose to the challenge, taking on additional shifts and working unsociable hours in order to make this possible. We are so pleased to have been able to contribute to this important study and to play a part in the global effort to tackle the pandemic’

Amanda Colston,  Community Research Delivery Lead and Acting Team Lead for the Memory and Cognition Research Delivery Team, who worked on the study added:

‘When staff had the opportunity to be involved in public health studies way outside of their experience, they spent hours training before throwing themselves into shift work covering weekends and evenings and in some cases many hours of overtime to support the study. Some are still working weekends delivering the vaccine at the Kassam Stadium and other venues.’

Feedback from participants in the study published in the NIHR TVSM CRN’s recent patient survey report showed that 98% of those who took part felt valued by researchers and 97% said they would conisder taking part in research again in the future.

You can read the full published paper in the New England Journal of Medicine.

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Published: 16 July 2021