Seattle is one of four cities taking part in a new Phase One clinical trial for an updated coronavirus vaccine.
The brand-new trial will test a Moderna vaccine that’s been slightly altered to better protect against the coronavirus variant first found in South Africa.
The trial is taking place at Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute and joins other trials under way in Atlanta, Nashville and Cincinnati.
The purpose of this trial is to get a first look at the safety and efficacy of this version of the vaccine.
“Doing this study right now will do is it will help us to know whether adjusting the vaccine in this way will allow to be much more protective against a different variant of the virus, like the one we’re seeing that was first seen in South Africa,” said Dr. John Dunn, Medical Director for Preventative Care at Kaiser-Permanente Washington.
Researchers are enrolling about 210 adults, which include those who have already received a COVID-19 vaccine, those who haven’t and those who have never had COVID.
Results from this first part of what will likely be a three phase trial are expected in May.
Moderna has already created one of three COVID-19 vaccines that have been approved for emergency use in the United States and several other countries around the world.
