JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Researchers at the Jacksonville Center for Clinical Research (JCCR) are recruiting people to participate in an upcoming trial for a new COVID-19 vaccine.
The FLirt-variant is the latest subvariant of the Omicron version of COVID-19.
The new vaccination, which doesn’t have a name yet, would no longer require needles because it is administered as a pill.
Vaxart pharmaceutical company, out of San Francisco, California, is making the vaccine and started developing it in 2020.
Director Dr. Michael Koren and his team at the JCCR are one of only a handful of national research centers chosen by Vaxart to conduct Phase 2 trials of the oral vaccine.
Phase 1 focused on safety. Phase 2 will be about the vaccine’s effectiveness.
Koren said they have received interest from several participants.
“It’s exciting for people who want to be a part of the history of developing the new COVID-19 vaccine. They want to protect themselves and their family so as a part of this, everybody will be getting updates to their vaccine profile,” Koren said. “If you’ve been reluctant to get involved before, or you had concerns about the vaccine, this may be a comfortable way for you to do it.”
Unlike the current COVID-19 Messenger RNA vaccines that are required to be stored in special freezers to maintain their effectiveness before being injected, the new oral vaccine is room-temperature stable.
According to researchers, the new oral vaccine inhibits airborne transmission of COVID-19 by reducing shedding. Viral shedding is when an infected person releases copies of the virus from their body by sneezing or coughing. People with COVID-19 shed the virus for about 10 days.
“Ultimately, the amount of viral shedding is one of the parameters we’re looking at when we study whether or not these things are effective, so hopefully, in the first level, people don’t get sick. If they do get sick, the amount of virus they produce is less than they would otherwise,” Koren said.
Researchers said the new oral vaccine has shown to be effective against the original version of COVID-19 and earlier variants of COVID-19, but there’s not enough data to determine its effectiveness on the new FLirt-variant.
Koren said part of the problem is how fast the virus keeps advancing.
“As we look at this in the future, we’ll be looking at it the same way we look at influenza. Each year, there may be a strain of influenza, and sometimes the vaccines are more or less effective, but as we get more into the learning, we’re able to get the key point in the virus to create an antibody response,” Koren said.
Phase 2 trials of the new oral vaccine start in two weeks. It will last for one year.
Participants will only need to visit the research center six times during the trial.
Anyone interested in taking part in the trial can call 904-730-0101.