Texas A&M launches national vaccine study to find effectiveness in stopping transmission

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX) - Texas A&M is launching a national vaccine study to find out how effective it is in stopping transmission of the virus among younger adults.

The study will focus on people between the ages of 18 and 26, but Texas A&M School of Public Health Professor Marcia Ory says that could be adjusted slightly.

The study is still in its recruitment phase. Ory says they are looking for people in that age range who have not tested positive for the virus and have not been vaccinated, but are willing to get the shot down the road. One group will be vaccinated immediately, while another will wait four months.

Ory says participants will be monitored very closely if they are accepted.

”They basically do a nasal swab each day, and that enables us to know the viral load,” Ory said. “That’s another question: How much viral load are you carrying if you’ve been vaccinated or if you haven’t been vaccinated?”

The study will last four months. Participants will have their blood drawn three times over the course of that period, along with the daily nasal swabs and symptom checks, in order to collect the necessary data that’s needed.

“This study got put in place across the country faster than almost any other study,” Ory said. “It was actually part of the original Operation Warp Speed. What they’re also doing is getting the study out so that we’ll know the findings within a year, and that’s almost unheard of in most research.”

Orsy says they hope to complete recruiting and begin the study by June, but that could be pushed back slightly because so many eligible students will leave the area in the coming weeks.

Those interested in participating in the study can click here to learn more and go through an initial screening to see if they qualify. Participants can get compensated up to $1,000 in exchange for their time and effort.

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