novavax vaccine trial - anyone else?

[Frazzled2207]

Have just had the call and am going tomorrow. Very excited. Anyone else doing this?

Yay @pennee! Turns out I had the real thing too. I did a happy dance at work when the email came in . Cancelled my appointment for pfizer/astra zenica for Monday, hopefully sometime else can use it now.

Did feel a bit ropey for a day 24-48 hours after the second one, but thankfully no armpit gland swelling! (that would explain why I had my sweaty armpit prodded by the doc at my last review visit, really wished I'd taken the lift to floor 5 and not used the stairs at that point!). I'll need to check out the BBC mention.

I also found the link to the study online so I can track the results when they appear.. clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04583995?term=Novavax&cond=covid+19&draw=2&rank=3

@NotMrsTumble that’s great news! I bet you’re relieved too.

Thanks for the link. Shouldn’t be long now and with an extra one on board hopefully we can get some normality in our lives.

@pennee

Ooo OUR vaccine just been mentioned on BBC news as coming online soon. 🤞 And yes I’m calling it OURS as us guinea pigs made this happen 😁

Sooner a Guinea Pig than those "sheep."

Anyone had there 4th appointment yet? I’m back tomorrow morning, assuming it’s just a blood test again?

Not yet. I'm going in half term!

I wonder how many people have unblinded?

Just got back, it was just a blood test this time.

Interesting news though. The Doctor told me that due to the new variant being so rife in the country right now (85% of new cases) they had reached the required number of people who had caught Covid to be able to unblind the whole trial. She said they expected the results to be announced within a couple of weeks. Very exciting.

@mollypuss1

Just got back, it was just a blood test this time.

Interesting news though. The Doctor told me that due to the new variant being so rife in the country right now (85% of new cases) they had reached the required number of people who had caught Covid to be able to unblind the whole trial. She said they expected the results to be announced within a couple of weeks. Very exciting.

Oooh very interesting! Thanks for letting us know.

I guess many people, especially the over 50's, will ask to unblind when offered the approved vaccine in the next few weeks and months anyway. So it s great that they have the number they need. Fingers crossed the vaccine is safe and effective.

Ooh, very exciting! Desperate to know what I had!

I don't think the over 50's will be offered the vaccine yet, will they (we!)? I was assuming not until much later in the year

That’s fabulous news @mollypuss1
Be great to find out what everyone on this thread got and get a new a vaccine too.

I was unblinded last week. Had the placebo which I wasn't surprised at as absolutely zero side effects, not even a sore arm! They have asked me to continue to attend the follow up appointments which I'm happy to do. Now had the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine. Good to hear they should be able to release the results soon, the more vaccine options the better!

I really want to know if I got the placebo or real thing, looking forward to finding out

I was given a document explaining the process of being unblinded at my 3rd appointment. If you want to be unblinded, I think they can tell you over the phone but from what people have said upthread, it takes a while, and I think they can only tell you 48 hours before your appointment for the vaccine (if that is the reason you are unblinding).

@AVictoryProduct

I was given a document explaining the process of being unblinded at my 3rd appointment. If you want to be unblinded, I think they can tell you over the phone but from what people have said upthread, it takes a while, and I think they can only tell you 48 hours before your appointment for the vaccine (if that is the reason you are unblinding).

I think that's the protocol while the trial is still "live". Once they have enough positive cases to run the results then I think they will unblind (although I couldn't see this mentioned in the protocol, one of the trial doctors mentioned this at my second appointment.) Exciting to hear that interim results may be imminent!

Oooh @CardinalCat how exciting. Thanks for letting us know.

An analyst called Charles Duncan from an American financial services firm predicts:

"a 60% probability for the (Novavax) vaccine to reach a 90% efficacy rate in line with those achieved by Moderna"

seekingalpha.com/news/3649635-novavax-can-assess-shot-s-efficacy-on-new-covidminus-19-variant-cantor-fitzgerald

This is just a prediction, but I do like good news!

Does anyone know if an antibodies test would test positive if you have had the Novavax vaccine?

It says this on the NHS website:

If you’ve had the COVID-19 vaccine

Vaccines teach your immune system how to create antibodies. But these are different to the ones the antibody test checks for to tell you if you’ve had the virus before. If you’ve had the vaccine, you may be asked to take a different test to check your response to it.

The COVID-19 vaccine will not affect the result of your antibody test.

So I think the answer is no, an antibody test can only tell you if you have naturally acquired antibodies?

It has to be a specific antibody test - not the standard one that is in general use.

The doctor said she would email me when she could tell me whether I had the vaccine or the placebo. Would probably be after the public announcement on the results though. She also said if I’m offered the Pfizer or AstraZeneca vaccine then I have to take it but as I’m under 50 with no underlying conditions that’s not gonna happen anytime soon.

As a complete aside, she was also quite critical of the current vaccine rollout as she said she, along with all her colleagues, would be willing to work shifts through the night to get the vaccines out. She asked if I would come at 3am if needed and I said yes and she said everyone has said they would aswell just to get this nightmare over with quicker but the government currently aren’t allowing it. I’m assuming that’s to do with not having enough doses to do this yet but hopefully when the number of vaccines increases we might see 24 hour centres and an even faster rollout.

I think the government have now announced that they will be rolling out a 24hr vaccination programme ... aided by easyJet staff on furlough!

@Anatomical

It has to be a specific antibody test - not the standard one that is in general use.

That makes sense, thank you!

Oh fellow trial people, I was part of this. Suspect I did have the real thing as felt like I’d had a flu jab afterwards. Although I haven’t been unblinded as of yet.

aided by easyJet staff on furlough

They should borrow some Aldi checkout staff to do it, the whole country will be done in a week.

That's exciting about the unblinding. I'm in on 5th Feb for appointment 4.

@Centenaryboi isn't it a double blind study? So those giving the injection and taking bloods have no idea whether we have had the vaccine or placebo either.

If they unblinded me now, I would still happily go back for further blood tests. After all, it's what I signed up for