WESTWOOD—The Lundquist Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center and UCLA Medical Center in Westwood will soon recruit volunteers in Los Angeles County for phase 3 trials of an investigational COVID-19 vaccine. The first dose is expected to be administered in early September.

The vaccine, AZD1222, was developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca. It has already gone through early trials and it will determine whether the vaccine is able to prevent symptomatic COVID-19 after two doses.

Lundquist and UCLA aim to recruit over 750 volunteers who reside in Los Angeles County. This includes people over 60 years of age and people with preexisting medical conditions including high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity.

To be eligible, a volunteer cannot have tested positive for COVID-19. Volunteers will be assigned at random to receive a placebo of saline injection or the investigational vaccine. 

“We are excited to work with the National Institutes of Health on this study to identify an effective and safe vaccine for COVID-19, particularly for those communities most impacted by this pandemic. We are looking forward to engaging and talking with those who are interested in enrolling in the study—without the support from volunteers, identifying an effective vaccine won’t be possible. L.A. County has been hit hard by the virus; vaccines end pandemics, and it is our hope and goal that we can come together and help stop COVID-19 in L.A. and everywhere,” said Dr. Eric Daar, lead researcher for the Lindquist Institute on this trial, chief of HIV medicine at the Harbor UCLA Medical Center and Professor at UCLA’s Geffen School of Medicine. 

Lundquist Institute and UCLA Medical Center in Westwood are part of the COVID-19 Prevention Network (CoVPN), which is supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

For additional information and to volunteer visit: helpstopcovid.la.