Henfield woman signs up for Covid vaccine trials - and calls for more people to take part

Gillian Fletcher, 74, has signed up to the NHS Covid-19 Vaccine Research Registry - which is now appealing for more people to come forward to take part in vaccine trials.

Gillian said: “When the pandemic started, there wasn’t a vaccine on the horizon but when the vaccine registry was launched it seemed like a really important thing to be involved in and so I signed up.

“If I’m contacted by researchers I will take part in a vaccine clinical trial, and if I’m not, I will have the vaccine when offered.

“I understand why people are cautious about the Covid-19 vaccine, but many people are alive today because people volunteered to take part in other vaccine clinical trials.”

She added: “Older people need to take part in vaccine trials and other health research. As you get older you’re more likely to suffer from more than one condition like diabetes and arthritis.

“The more people, with the sort of medical conditions experienced by many older people, taking part in research the better.

“By taking part in health research you are contributing to finding treatments for your condition which will benefit others.”

Gillian is one of 33,000 people across Sussex, Surrey and Kent who have volunteered to take part in the trials.

More older people are now needed, along with frontline health and social care workers and people from Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds.

A spokesman for the National Institue for Health Research said: “Taking part in a study is the best way to help effective vaccines to be identified and made available to everyone earlier, and may even give you early access to a vaccine later found to be effective.”

Professor Martin Llewelyn, lead for infection and urgent public health research within Kent, Surrey and Sussex, said: “It is crucial that researchers continue to develop a range of vaccines to ensure that people can access the most effective vaccine for them.

“For example, the most effective vaccine in young adults might not be the most effective vaccine in the over 65 groups. Essential research is still needed to answer important questions about what is the best vaccine for different people.

“People taking part in the trials will not be disadvantaged and can still have an approved vaccine when available. However, taking part in a study is the best way to help effective vaccines to be identified and made available to everyone earlier, and may even give you early access to a vaccine later found to be effective.”

The NHS COVID-19 Vaccine Research Registry (www.nhs.uk/researchcontact) was launched in July to create a database of people who can be contacted by the NHS to take part in clinical studies to speed up the development of a safe and effective vaccine.

The Registry has been developed by the government, in partnership with the NIHR, NHS Digital, the Scottish and Welsh Governments and the Northern Ireland Executive.

To find out more, search nhs.uk/researchcontact.