Hundreds of volunteers from the South West will from today (Wednesday) be invited to join the third phase of a leading COVID-19 vaccine study.

So far 9,220 people across Cornwall, Devon and parts of Somerset have signed up to take part in treatment research to help beat the virus, and this latest study will test the safety and effectiveness of a promising new vaccine across a broad spectrum of people from a variety of age groups and backgrounds.

The promising vaccine has been developed by US technology company Novavax and the Phase 3 studies will involve many thousands of people to give researchers insights into its effects on a much larger population than the phase 1 and 2 studies.

In this region the study’s research will be undertaken by the Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust’s NIHR Patient Recruitment Centre at the Exeter Nightingale Hospital.

The Foundation Trust’s Respiratory Consultant Dr Thomas Burden, who is also Vaccine Lead for the NIHR Clinical Research Network South West Peninsula, said: “We are delighted to be able to offer people in the South West the opportunity to participate in this important and exciting research. We have all been affected by COVID-19 in differing ways and we look forward to contributing towards what we hope will be an effective vaccine to enable recovery from this devastating epidemic.”

Professor Paul Heath, Novavax Phase 3 trial Chief Investigator and Professor of Paediatric Infectious Diseases at St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “This is only the second Phase 3 vaccine study to be initiated in the UK, and the first Phase 3 study with the Novavax vaccine anywhere in the world, which shows the importance that has been placed on rapidly finding a solution for this urgent public health need. The vaccine has successfully gone through its early safety trials and we’re extremely encouraged by its performance so far.

“The NHS Vaccines Registry has been key in helping us quickly identify participants who fulfil the inclusion criteria for this study – particularly those from among groups most likely to benefit from a vaccine, such as the elderly.”

Nationally 10,000 volunteers will be needed to take part in the Novavax study, and although the number of people who have signed up across the country to the NHS Vaccine Registry launched in July has reached 250,000, additional volunteers are needed so there are enough people to take part in studies into other potential vaccines due to start before the end of the year.

Researchers are particularly seeking more volunteers who have underlying health conditions, and/or who are over 65, and/or are from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds.You can support the national effort to speed up vaccine research and receive more information about volunteering for clinical studies by visiting www.nhs.uk/researchcontact Once you sign up, you are able to withdraw a any time and, if necessary, request that your details be removed from the COVID-19 vaccine registry. The process is said to take five minutes to complete.