Novavax trial thread number 3

[Frazzled2207]

Yet more chat about novavax, (un)blinding, general vaccine passport stress, approval (please please please) and more.
Those involved in other vaccine trials also welcome.

Noooooo. It's bonkers. The only glimmer of light might be that Novavax is a US company and they will be making provision with other countries for their trial participants to be able to travel too.

That said, do we know how long the Moderna pop up clinic is on? I have a quiet weekend so if ever there was a weekend to be floored by a vaccine it's this one or next. What do we do with the trial? Call up and ask to be unblinded? Still no letter here either.

@andadietcoke
All I’ve seen on local fb is that it’s open 7dpw. No closure date mentioned. Presumably there will be a point when they run out of people to vax and then need a few weeks’ break before 2nd doses.
You can either make an appointment or walk in but being over 40 I doubt it will let me get an appointment.

This is where the Stockport vaccination clinic info can be found: www.stockportccg.nhs.uk/news/covid-19-vaccination-options/?fbclid=IwAR3fy1ttnMbbQ9IeSAovEz0AbJR1ZXsEEWxrHeAxgHPP183maMzLvS7Kffo

It’s under number 2. Conflicting info though, it says it’s open 7 days, then only gives opening hours for Tue to Fri…

@Frazzled2207, I wouldn’t say it’s entirely impossible you’d get Moderna via appointment (if you look for this clinic, you’ll know that’s what you’re getting), my DH had his first one via appointment at the Etihad and he’s ancient!

@andadietcoke it’s the second dose you’ve got to watch out for with Moderna. DH was fine after the first, then slept all afternoon the day after the second!

Is it me, or is this whole travel thing and which vaccine you’ve had starting to get a bit complicated?!?

www.bbc.com/news/explainers-57665765?fbclid=IwAR3zu47XKOzk6H3HQVZsPmbPmkBezRtnleEt2gNBtLHkon0V-NbPLEpyO8Q

@Monkeygirl68

Absolutely it’s ridiculous. If they can’t sort out the people with Indian doses of AZ then there’s no hope for us don’t think. Hopefully we are also on the “to sort out” list. But clearly some kind of serious international cooperation is needed here.

I just spoke to 119 to see if they could send me a letter to travel to France if my GP records show I've had the AZ vaccine, even if my NHS pass doesn't. They said they have access to the same view of my NHS pass as I do, so if it's not in there then they can't provide me with a letter either. I asked and he said the same goes for those on a trial who have proof of being double vaxxed but don't yet know what they've had. Pretty annoyed with it all now, and wishing I'd never signed up

@valnevavaxx
That’s pretty shitty.
Do either they or your trial site have advice as to what you should do?
You’d had two shots of approved vaccine right? It should be fine for you to travel

Just found an exemption under Event trials on my NHS app. This should work for Wimbledon but I'll take a photo of the letter too.

There's nothing under Travel yet.

Thank you Vargas@ A QR code under Event Trials! This is reassuring. It is a step forward at least. (You have to click further "View COVID-19 records" to see that it is based on exemption. It's almost hidden. That's good.)

It says "Your NHS COVID Pass expires 1 August 2021 at xxxxpm". I wonder if it to be renewed every month or if it was put as a temporary measure.

@Woventabby - I've been jabbed under the normal system and have the same date, it just renews each day. Good to hear you lot are getting something official at last.

It renews each time you log in (at least mine says that!)

[quote Frazzled2207]@valnevavaxx
That’s pretty shitty.
Do either they or your trial site have advice as to what you should do?
You’d had two shots of approved vaccine right? It should be fine for you to travel[/quote]
They’ve basically said it depends on which country you’re travelling to and what their requirements are- for example in France you have to prove you’ve been double vaxxed with an approved jab, and this can only be done by a) the NHS app, b) the NHS pass on the website, or c) getting a letter from 119, which you can only get if you have the pass on the app or the website! A shambles really.

Although that said have just checked my app and I have the exemption under event trials- so that’s something at least. Seems very bizarre that they can say yes you’ve had a vaccine and here’s the proof, but not just put it in the bit of the app that allows travel!

No pass for me, and no letter. The post always seems to be very very slow between the trial centre and me ; )

I've emailed the trial centre to ask about the letter, concerns about antibodies by the autumn and how I get an approved vaccine...

@andadietcoke
Decided I am going to call them by Monday. We were supposed to get the letter by end of June and we’ve not got the app working either so as it stands if we had tickets for Wimbledon on Monday (I don’t sadly) we’d be pretty screwed wouldn’t we

Event pass here too. Not so concerned about the fact it says exempted if you click through as I don’t imagine that will happen very often. The travel thing remains immensely frustrating, though.

Event Pass complete waste of time, all you need is a lateral flow test, enter the code and declare it to be negative and there’s your event pass. Don’t even need to do the test.

@gazzaconns

Event Pass complete waste of time, all you need is a lateral flow test, enter the code and declare it to be negative and there’s your event pass. Don’t even need to do the test.

How ridiculous. I assumed you had to somehow prove it was negative even if there was no way to check if it was actually your swab.

@Frazzled2207 - it is ridiculous, you don't need to prove anything, just register the test whether you have done it or not. I guess they are hoping most people are honest. But given that some teenagers are faking positive tests to get off school that seems to be a false hope!

I saw this on the BBC this morning www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-57650316

I ended up going to Wimbledon without an event pass - I did the lateral flow test, got a negative result and showed that text and all was fine. Doesn’t solve the issue of being disadvantaged by the trial though.

Thanks for sharing the article, adds to the disappointment of being in this trial.

so the NIHR website seems to have updated in parts. There is at least some kind of recognition that it's a bit of a mess. eg

A number of countries do not currently recognise the Novavax vaccine, so you may face additional restrictions or tests. This is outside the UK Government’s control, although they have been asking other governments to respect the position of vaccine trial participants who have contributed so much to global public health. If this is a problem for you, you may want to discuss the risks and benefits of having additional doses of a deployed vaccine with your doctor or trial team

also - they won't reimburse costs of pcr tests surprise surprise.

There is good news on there though, eg Janssen people hopefully sorted this week. Says that we will be exempted from quarantine on return to UK if/when that happens.

full blurb here.
bepartofresearch.nihr.ac.uk/Vaccine-studies/Latest-vaccine-news/index?fbclid=IwAR39OylI63XPxL9go4FEJ3MSyehFo8TODKwZmwZvSfVw1JX01BhcEYBIBXo
someone on the facebook group at our site @andadietcoke has unblinded and apparently they were really nice about it. I am calling tomorrow to request to be unblinded have decided. If it was autumn I think I'm going to go and try and get moderna. If April might wait it out a bit longer.

ps stockport punters, there are appointments at the Hazel Grove civic centre (which are def only doing Moderna, or at least were) pretty much every day until 24th July. Not sure if it closes then or perhaps only available until that date.

They are mostly allowing walk ins too I believe.