NIH begins large scale clinical trial evaluating second COVID-19 booster shots in adults

NIH begins clinical trial evaluating second COVID-19 booster shots in Study includes multiple variant vaccines. National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Adults interested in joining this study should visit clinicaltrials.gov and search identifier NCT05289037 for a list of sites and contacts.

Phase 2 clinical trial evaluating various additional COVID-19 booster shots has begun enrolling adult participants in the United States. The trial aims to understand if different vaccine regimens—prototype and variant vaccines alone and in combinations—can broaden immune responses in adults who already have received a primary vaccination series and a first booster shot. The study, known as the COVID-19 Variant Immunologic Landscape (COVAIL) trial, is sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.

“We are looking beyond the Omicron variant to determine the best strategy to protect against future variants,” said NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. “This trial will help us understand if we can use prototype and variant vaccines alone or together to shift immune responses to cover existing and emerging COVID-19 variants.”

Despite waning protection against infection and mild illness during the Omicron wave, COVID-19 vaccines available in the United States so far have maintained durable protection against severe COVID-19. However, NIAID is preparing for the possibility of future variants evading protection against currently available COVID-19 vaccines.

...