Hull’s hospitals have been selected to take part in a new vaccine trial targeting the Omicron variant of Covid-19.

Around 150 staff working at Hull Royal Infirmary and Castle Hill Hospital and members of the public who are in good health and over the age of 16 are being asked to volunteer for the trial.

Dr Patrick Lillie, Consultant in Infectious Disease at Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and Hon Senior Lecturer at Hull/York Medical School, is leading the trial at both hospitals.

“This study is important as it will help answer the questions around fourth doses of vaccines, in particular do they need to be adapted to Omicron or if the original vaccines give good responses still,” Dr Lillie said.

As part of the  mRNA-1273-P305 clinical trial, participants will be given one injection in the upper arm, receiving either the  investigational booster vaccine, mRNA-1273.529, or the already authorized booster, Spikevax.

Researchers will measure the immune response to the investigational vaccine by collecting blood samples, testing them for antibodies to understand if the investigational vaccine is working.

Over the following 13 months, people’s health will be closely monitored by the clinical trial team and they’ll visit Castle Hill Hospital between five to seven times.

Hull’s Infectious Diseases team, who identified and treated the first patients confirmed with the virus at Castle Hill Hospital in January 2020, have participated in a serious of ground-breaking trials to protect people against Covid-19.

The trust played a major part in the development of the Oxford Astra Zeneca vaccine in the first year of the pandemic, when one in every 45 participants was recruited by the Hull team. They are currently involved in a trial to understand the effects of receiving different forms of the vaccine.

Email the team at INFECTIONRESEARCH.GROUP hyp-tr.infectionresearch.group@nhs.net if you’d like to participate.