Phase III vaccine trial seeks participants

By Sydney Street

Prism Health North Texas (PHNTX) is seeking participants for clinical trials for the AstraZeneca Oxford coronavirus vaccine, AZD1222, that have resumed across the world after a temporary pause earlier this year. Seeking 250 participants in the Dallas Fort Worth area out of the 30,000 required across the study, the PHNTX Research Department has been hard at work preparing their systems for enrollment.

For the AZD1222 vaccine study, PHNTX is seeking participants 18 years and older, especially in groups that are more likely to be exposed to COVID-19, including people with underlying medical conditions, with greater risk of exposure at their jobs, who live or work in elder-care facilities, jails, or prisons, who are over the age of 65, or are in racial and ethnic groups that have been impacted in greater numbers by the epidemic, such as African Americans, Latinx, and Native Americans. Those who participate will be compensated for their time and receive a stipend for each visit they complete. 

Visits will be held at the Oak Cliff Health Center at 219 Sunset Avenue, Suite 116 and in a new satellite office in east Dallas at 4004 Worth Street. 

“We were uniquely positioned to successfully carry out COVID-19 vaccine studies due to the research infrastructure we established over the last decade participating in clinical trials sponsored by the NIH’s HIV research network,” said Dr. Roger Bedimo, medical director of clinical research (NIH Sponsored Studies). 

Results from the late-stage trials are anticipated later this year, depending on the rate of infection within the communities where the clinical trials are being conducted. Data readouts will be submitted to regulators and published in peer-reviewed scientific journals. Rolling reviews of the vaccine program have already begun in countries where this regulatory pathway has been established, providing regulators access to data as soon as they become available.

“Our clinical teams are excited to get started on this important COVID-19 vaccine study, and we already have people signed up, ready to participate,” says Dr. John Carlo, CEO of Prism Health North Texas and member of the Texas Medical Association Taskforce. “Our extensive experience in conducting clinical research studies has enabled us to quickly get the trial up and running, and we are hopeful that our contribution to this international effort quickly finds a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine.”

Those interested in participating in the study may visit phntx.org/services/clinical-research and complete the contact form or email the Research Department directly at [email protected]. 

They will then be contacted by phone to discuss study participation and eligibility criteria. 

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