Oxford's COVID-19 vaccine trial volunteers

Dr Alex Bowmer works as a research fellow in global health and development at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. 

Day to day I oversee a team of public health specialists who research the barriers and facilitators to vaccine deployment in epidemic, and in the case of COVID-19, pandemic outbreaks.I specialise in understanding the role of local knowledge on vaccine acceptance and tracking diseases that can spread between humans and animals.

What has been your experience of COVID-19 pandemic? (how has it impacted you?)

The pandemic has presented many challenges, both personal and professional. What has kept me going has been the collaboration between public health specialists who are applying a ‘lessons learned’ approach to provide novel insight into how to manage the pandemic. This has been applied to the design of clinical trials for COVID-19, how to manage anti-vax sentiments and to research regarding how to reduce future pandemics. It has been a strangely rewarding time to work in this field and recent developments provide real hope that we are beating this virus.

What motivated you to take part in the trial?

I have a simple mantra in life, that is to lead by example. I should not expect people to partake in a clinical trial if I myself would not be willing to. As such I wanted to be part of the process so that I could share my experiences with the public to increase the acceptability of the vaccine once it becomes available.

What was your experience of the trial? Would you do it again?

My experience of the trial has only been positive. The staff, communication and organisation of the trial have been world class. From the moment you arrive you are put at ease with a smiling face and thorough medical screening. After that the team walk you through the process of receiving a vaccine, whether the control or the prototype, and why you need to come back to provide blood samples at different intervals during the trial. Members of the team are on hand 24/7 should we have any questions or concerns, and all publications and media briefings are sent to all participants to keep us up to date on new developments. I would absolutely do it again and want to thank all the staff, from researchers to clinicians, for their continued efforts.

What is your reaction to the recent interim results?

The interim results are a really positive indication that the vaccine is efficacious and provides a level of protection against COVID-19. People need to realise however that the interim results are just that. They do not provide the full picture, but insight into what the data currently tells us. When you take a step back and look at the data, not the media’s interpretation which was misleading and confusing, you can see that for the first time a clinical trial attempted to involve the public in the science behind establishing the efficacy of a vaccine. Though this has raised concerns, this transparency is refreshing and helps us to see how the vaccine will likely be given to people when it is approved. That is the half, followed by the full dose, as seen in the interim results.

Elisa Small is a postdoc in the Departments of Biochemistry and Zoology, and works on the ecology and evolution of bacterial warfare.

Basically I watch bacteria kill each other under the microscope, which is a ton of fun. I am originally from Germany and lived in Switzerland for a while before moving to Oxford three years ago. Hoping to stay a while longer as I really love living and working here.

What has been your experience of COVID-19 pandemic? (how has it impacted you?)

The biggest immediate impact it had on my life was the fact that I was unable to visit my husband, friends, and family who are all pretty much scattered across the globe. We also had a pretty severe COVID case in our family, which made us all painfully aware of the dangers of this virus.

What motivated you to take part in the trial?

When I was a student I used to take part in pretty much every study I could get my hands on, for example behavioural or survey-based studies, because I was always interested in how trials and experiments in different fields are conducted and what it would feel like to be a participant in one. When I saw the invitation e-mail for the Oxford vaccine trials it was therefore a no-brainer for me: I saw an opportunity to do my tiny little part in testing a potential vaccine, and I was also super interested in seeing those trials from the participants’ side of things.

What was your experience of the trial? Would you do it again?

From the very beginning, I felt like this trial was conducted with the utmost care for the safety and well-being of the participants, so I felt comfortable from the start. I also enjoyed the process itself as it only consisted of a few clinic visits that were usually very short, and everything pretty much went smoothly. I did have a few hiccups in terms of negative media attention (death hoax etc.), but in the end it was all outweighed by all the positive messages I received. So yes, I would definitely do it all over again.

What is your reaction to the recent interim results?

I was very pleased to see that the Oxford vaccine is extremely safe, stimulates a good immune response and protects a lot of people from infection. Combined with the positive news coming in from other vaccine trials, I am confident that these vaccines will be able to protect millions of people across the globe in the years to come, slowly leading us back to a new version of normality.