Hip Hip Hooray to volunteers
LNWH staff and patients have been praised for taking part in clinical trials on the first anniversary of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine.
More than two billion doses have been administered in more than 170 countries with the research team at Northwick Park saying none of it would have been possible without participants.
Northwick Park was one of the first places to recruit volunteers, despite being the first and hardest hit hospital during the first wave of the pandemic.
Research manager Sunder Chita said: “Scientists quite rightly get the credit for the development of the vaccine but volunteers bring it to the wider public by testing its safety and effectiveness for mass production.
“We’re proud that so many staff and people from the local community stepped up and took part. It’s extraordinary that the vaccine was developed in less than a year but it shows what can be down when everyone pulls together.”
Northwick Park has recently opened a new dedicated Clinical Research Facility (CRF) to further its work as one of the leading research centres in the UK.
It is currently involved in more than 150 studies a year, testing the safety and effectiveness of new treatments on volunteers before they are approved for the marketplace and other clinical trials.
It also health service research studies looking at how social factors and technologies affect how people can access healthcare.