
Spain launches pilot COVID-19 vaccine trial with local COVID experts
- September 16, 2021
Spain’s national COVID program has launched a pilot COVEx program in the province of Extremadura in a bid to bring together scientists, doctors, nurses and technicians who work in COVID prevention.
The trial will include 15 specialists in microbiology, pathology, toxicology, infectious diseases, infectious agents and other disciplines who will be trained to administer the vaccine, which is a combination of two vaccines.
The trial will run until the end of April and the results will be made public in the spring, said José Manuel Sánchez, deputy director of the National Health Program.
Sánches’ comments come as the Spanish government prepares to roll out its COVID vaccine pilot in Spain, following a massive vaccination campaign.
The program is meant to get a handle on COVID before it spreads to the rest of the European Union.
The Spanish government has received more than 2.2 million doses of the COVID1 vaccine.
It has not said how many of those doses have been used.
The vaccine is administered to about 4,200 Spanish citizens.
Sanchez said the trial will allow the country to compare the efficacy of the two vaccines and see if it is the right one.
The program will not require a trial permit and will not have to meet international standards, he said.
It will be overseen by a committee composed of scientists from universities and private companies, he added.
The new COVE-19 pilot will be the first to target people aged 65 and older in Spain and is part of a government plan to tackle the spread of COVID in Spain.
Sábado, a 67-year-old father of two who lives in Extremaduras village of San Antonio, is a member of the local health committee and an expert in COV-19.
He said he thinks the trial program will have a positive impact.
“I hope the results of the study will be published in the scientific journal,” Sábados told CBC News.
He said his community has been very good in vaccinating people against COVID.
“The main objective of this project is to make sure that we get the vaccine to the Spanish people in a way that is efficient and affordable,” he said, adding that there are people who live outside Extremaduras who would be more able to handle the vaccine.
“We need to get to the front lines of the vaccination process.”
The trial is expected to last until the beginning of April, but the Spanish health ministry has said it expects to see many more cases in the coming months.