UCSD conducts COVID-19 vaccine trial as part of national effort (KPBS Midday Edition segment)

Speaker 1:00:01 In today’s speech on the spread of COVID in California, Governor Gavin Newtham says there is not enough focus on essential workers. He presented a graph showing that the most important workers, including grocery store employees, cashiers, and restaurant workers in California, are of Latino, black, and Asian origin.

Speaker 2:00:20 This integral workforce remains the foundation and backbone of the people who provide basic basic services to California.

Speaker 1:00:31 Several newly introduced expansion programs provide quarantine space for sick essential and crop workers. And he is introducing a new handbook for employers that streamlines guidance on how to provide a safe workplace for employees. Meanwhile, the San Diego Inn has the opportunity to participate in the fight against COVID-19. The first large-scale COVID vaccine trial in the United States is looking for people in San Diego who want to join 87 testing sites across the United States. We would like to enroll 30,000 people to test a vaccine developed by Moderna Biotechnology Company of seven trial sites in California. Three are in San Diego County. These locations were three wake studies at Hoya’s UC San Diego and Lamesa’s San Diego and East research sites with the latest COVID vaccine trial, San Diego union Tribune, and biotechnology reporters Jonathan Wilson and Jonathan. I participated. program. I thank Maureen. What kind of clinical trials has this vaccine already done in humans and what were the results?

Speaker 2:01:36 In fact, Dariana was the first company to be the first group of researchers to start the COVID-19 trial in humans. They started around March 16th, the trial of about 45 healthy adults. We are mainly investigating whether the vaccine is safe. These results were published last Tuesday, 14 July, in a new British medical journal. They found three doses of the vaccine, low, medium and high doses, and generally tested the mild side effects expected with any vaccine. Interestingly, a little encouragement was that all vaccinated people were producing antibodies. Therefore, these are immune proteins that attach to the surface of the virus and potentially prevent it from infecting itself. And, based on the results of these early small trials, they are now working on this next major vaccine trial.

Speaker 1:02:29 Well, this is not only a COVID vaccine is a new disease, but also a new kind of vaccine. Tell me about it.

Speaker 2:02:37 Yes. So this is one of several approaches. Researchers have basically tested every vaccine approach. Imagine what we’ve been using for decades and what Hyundai is doing with MM RNA or messenger RNA vaccines. So, this is a molecular vaccine that tells the body to make part of the surface of the coronavirus, not the whole virus, but these spike proteins that the coronavirus has. And the idea is to teach that person to respond from immune cell to immune cell by providing this messenger RNA. The spike proteins allow these antibodies to block the infection. It also clears the infected cells of immune cells.

Speaker 1:03:30 How many researchers would like to sign up to test the vaccine in San Diego?

Speaker 2:03:35 Taken together, there could be more than 1000. Given the fact that this is a trial of 30,000 people, San Diego is a big chunk of the dataset and the vaccine works. UCS D expects about 500 people. And east research sites, and 3 weeks of research, are looking for about 350-500 pieces.

Speaker 1:04:01 And what kind of participants are researchers looking for?

Speaker 2:04:05 In short, they aren’t yet infected with the coronavirus, but they’re looking for potential people based on where they live and where they work. Well, they are also looking for someone in the high risk group of COVID-19. Finding the right person for these types of exams is difficult. I don’t want people who are already infected because of the immune reaction. From them, it may be what they had from that past infection. It doesn’t tell me if the vaccine works, but I can’t, for example, if I look for someone who is never exposed because they are so quarantined or at home. I don’t know if the vaccine protected them. So, I’m looking for this kind among people who haven’t been infected yet and who haven’t been exposed yet, but based on their daily lives, life depends on people working in healthcare, grocery stores and public transport. Is a good example of people with pre-existing conditions, whether they have high blood pressure or diabetes.

Speaker 1:05:10 Now, if the test is successful, this vaccine will be the earliest available,

Speaker 2:05:16 But Dana is one of a fairly small group of companies. This is part of the operational speed of the US government. And that’s a government bid that could vaccinate six 300 million successful COVID-19 vaccines by January 2021. As a result, President Moderna says he believes he may. By others at the end of the year, as others I’ve spoken said in the world of research and science, the most likely thing by the end of the year is whether the vaccine works, and in fact it’s actually mass produced. There will be good signs of whether or not. It can take a little longer to deliver it to those who need it right away.

Speaker 1:05:59 Jonathan, where can I get information on how to sign up for this trial?

Speaker 2:06:02 The fastest way to do that is to go to Coronavirus Prevention, network.org, Coronavirus Prevention, network.org, a site launched by the National Institutes of Health. And that will lead you to the way you find out about the many COVID-19 preventative trials happening in your community.

Speaker 1:06:25 Talk with San Diego Union Tribune, Biotechnology Reporter, Jonathan Wilson, Jonathan. Thank you very much.

Speaker 2:06:31 That was a joy. Thank you very much.