VOLUNTEERS from the Bournemouth and Poole area will have the opportunity to take part in one of the world’s first Omicron variant vaccine studies.

The Omicron-specific Covid-19 variant vaccine study will take place at the Dorset Research Hub, part of the University Hospitals Dorset Trust, and will see around 100 participants receive their first or second booster.

The first part of the study looked into the effectiveness of a tweaked Moderna vaccine targeting the Omicron strain, whereas this part of the study will further investigate a bivalent vaccine, one which targets multiple Covid-19 variants.

The study is open to people who have already received a booster vaccine and people who are yet to receive a booster dose but have received two primary doses of either mRNA (Moderna, Pfizer/BioNTech) or non-mRNA (Oxford/AstraZeneca, Janssen) vaccines.

Dr Patrick Moore, Dorset GP and local lead for the study, said: “We’re excited to be supporting this important Covid-19 vaccine trial looking at the safety and effectiveness of Moderna’s booster vaccine.

“We’re looking for volunteers aged 16 and over, living in and around Bournemouth and Poole, to take part in the trial. If you received your second or third dose of a Covid-19 vaccine at least three months ago, you may be eligible to take part.

 “This trial provides another exciting opportunity for our local community to support vital COVID-19 research. None of the research that we have supported throughout the pandemic would have been possible without our volunteers, who have so generously given up their time to support our work.

 “We’d encourage anyone interested in finding out more and getting involved in our latest study to visit the website and sign up.”  

Volunteers must be at least 16-years-old, have not tested positive for Covid-19 within 90 days and have had their last vaccine at least three months prior to joining the study.