The BOOSTAVAC vaccine trial (EU-COVAT-2 BOOSTAVAC) is continuing to recruit participants in Ireland and can now include eligible members of the public who were previously ineligible for the trial. Anyone over 18 who has already been vaccinated against COVID-19 at least three times with either the Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna mRNA vaccines can now participate.
The BOOSTAVAC trial is evaluating different booster vaccine strategies in people already vaccinated against Covid. The primary aim, to explore the need for and optimal timing of booster vaccination, remains an important question and still plays a vital role in informing public health policy.
EU-COVAT-2 BOOSTAVAC is the second study of VACCELERATE, an EU-funded consortium coordinated by the University of Cologne. This phase II trial, sponsored by UCD, is coordinated from Ireland by UCD Centre for Experimental Pathogen Host Research (CEPHR).
Director of UCD CEPHR and infectious diseases consultant at St Vincent’s University Hospital, Professor Paddy Mallon said: “Although COVID-19 vaccines are very effective, whether ongoing boosters are needed and how often they should be given remains a big gap in our knowledge, globally. The BOOSTAVAC trial aims to fill that knowledge gap. People in Ireland are renowned for their engagement with important clinical research. This European trial, coordinated in Ireland, has seen a huge response from the Irish public to date and we are reaching out to the public to continue to help us fully recruit to the trial by contacting boostavac@ucd.ie.”
The emergence of the Omicron variants of COVID-19 and the recent introduction of new, variant specific Pfizer mRNA Comirnaty vaccines means that individuals can now participate in the trial regardless of the number of prior vaccinations, provided that they have received at least three doses of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines.
The trial initially examined only the mRNA Pfizer booster and how often it was needed. With a plurality of Pfizer variant-adapted and Moderna mRNA vaccines now available, the expansion of inclusion criteria at this time enables the study to reflect more representative findings across the population who have received these booster doses.
The BOOSTAVAC trial in Ireland is recruiting participants at St Vincent's University Hospital, Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, St James Hospital and Beaumont Hospital in Dublin, and Cork University Hospital.
Anyone interested in learning more about the COVID-19 booster vaccine trial can email boostavac@ucd.ie for the BOOSTAVAC Participant Information Leaflet.
VACCELERATE is a clinical research network for the coordination and conduct of COVID-19 vaccine trials. The network is comprised of academic institutions from all over Europe, led by the University Hospital Cologne, Germany, and currently includes 29 national partners in 18 EU-member states and five countries associated to the EU Horizon 2020 research programme.
Anyone interested in participating in any of the studies can register with the VACCELERATE Volunteer Registry at vaccelerate.eu/volunteer-registry-2.