Cedar Rapids, IA, USA  
Digital Edition Digital Edition
Log in Log In My Account My Account
Subscribe Today
The Gazette The Gazette
The Gazette The Gazette
  • COVID-19
  • News
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Food & Drink
  • Business
Digital Edition Digital Edition
Log in Log In My Account My Account
Subscribe
CLOSE
The Gazette
Subscribe
My Account
  • News
    • All News
    • Election 2020
    • Coronavirus
    • Business News
    • Community
    • Crime and Courts
    • Education
    • Government
    • Health
    • Nation and World
    • Time Machine
    • Search Archive

    Our Journalists

    • Rod Boshart
    • Lee Hermiston
    • Erin Jordan
    • James Q. Lynch
    • Trish Mehaffey
    • Vanessa Miller
    • Kat Russell
    • Grace King
    • John Steppe
    • Gage Miskimen
    • Marissa Payne
  • Sports
    • All Sports
    • Iowa Hawkeyes
    • Hawkeye Football
    • Hawkeye Basketball
    • Prep Sports
    • Prep Volleyball
    • Prep Football
    • Prep Basketball
    • Prep Wrestling
    • Iowa State Cyclones
    • UNI Panthers
    • Small College Sports
    • Minor League Sports
    • Outdoors

    Sports Desk

    • Mike Hlas
    • Jeff Johnson
    • Jeff Linder
    • J.R. Ogden
    • K.J. Pilcher
    • Leah Vann
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Editorial Mission
    • Guest Columnists
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Political Cartoons
    • Staff Columnists
    • Staff Editorials
    • Submit a Letter or Column

    Our Columnists

    • Todd Dorman
    • Adam Sullivan
  • Food and Drink
    • All Food and Drink
    • Chew on This
    • Recipes
    • Restaurants
  • Business
    • All Business
    • Agriculture
    • Business Notes
    • Companies
    • Personal Finance
    • Economy
    • Employment
    • Energy
    • Manufacturing
    • Openings & Closures
    • Real Estate
    • Retail
    • Small Business
    • Transportation

    Our Journalists

    • Rod Boshart
    • Erin Jordan
    • John Steppe
  • Obituaries
    • All Obituaries
    • In Memory Of
    • Submit an Obituary
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • Daily News Podcast
    • Fact Checker
    • Hlastradamus Odds
    • Iowa Prep Sports
    • On Iowa
    • On Iowa Politics
    • On UNI
    • Pinning Combination
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Art
    • Books
    • Museums & Galleries
    • Music
    • Theater
    • Things To Do
  • Living
    • All Living
    • Health & Wellness
    • Home & Garden
    • Milestones
    • People & Places
    • Pets & Animals
    • Recreation
    • Religion & Belief
    • Travel

    Our Writers

    • Diana Nollen
  • Kids Gazette
    • See All
    • Kids Cooking Series
    • Kids Galleries
    • Printables
    • Activities
    • Articles
    • Submissions
    • Resources
  • Photos
    • All Photos and Videos
    • The Iowa Photo
    • Photo Store

    Our Photojournalists

    • Andy Abeyta
    • Liz Martin
    • Rebecca Miller
    • Jim Slosiarek
    • Gazette Visuals
  • Milestones
    • All Milestones
    • Anniversaries
    • Days To Remember
    • Engagements
    • Holidays
    • In Remembrance
    • New Arrivals
    • Thank Yous
    • Submit a Milestone
  • Data
    • Arrests
    • Building Permits
    • Interactive Maps & Charts
    • Salaries
  • Gazette Sites
    • Classifieds
    • Corridor Careers
    • Garage Sales
    • Gazette Gives Back
    • Gazette Rewards
    • Gazette Store
    • Green Gazette
    • HER
    • Iowa Wedding Experience
    • Holiday Light Finder
    • Hoopla
    • Iowa Ideas
    • Photo Store
  • Special Events
  • Special Sections
  • Other
    • About The Gazette
    • Archives
    • Article Removal
    • Business Directory
    • CR Arrest Database
    • Mobile Apps
    • Customer Care
    • Order Back Issues
    • Privacy Policies
    • Puzzle Answers
    • Sponsorship Requests
    • Submit a Letter
    • Weather
Daily News PodcastDaily News Podcast
Daily NewslettersDaily Newsletters
Log out

FOLLOW US

The Gazette
  • News
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Food and Drink
  • Business
  • Obituaries
  • Podcasts
  • Entertainment
  • Living
  • Kids Gazette
  • Photos
  • Milestones
  • Data
  • Gazette Sites
  • Special Events
  • Special Sections
  • Other
  • All News
  • Election 2020
  • Coronavirus
  • Business News
  • Community
  • Crime and Courts
  • Education
  • Government
  • Health
  • Nation and World
  • Time Machine
  • Search Archive

Our Journalists

  • Rod Boshart
  • Lee Hermiston
  • Erin Jordan
  • James Q. Lynch
  • Trish Mehaffey
  • Vanessa Miller
  • Kat Russell
  • Grace King
  • John Steppe
  • Gage Miskimen
  • Marissa Payne
  • All Sports
  • Iowa Hawkeyes
  • Hawkeye Football
  • Hawkeye Basketball
  • Prep Sports
  • Prep Volleyball
  • Prep Football
  • Prep Basketball
  • Prep Wrestling
  • Iowa State Cyclones
  • UNI Panthers
  • Small College Sports
  • Minor League Sports
  • Outdoors

Sports Desk

  • Mike Hlas
  • Jeff Johnson
  • Jeff Linder
  • J.R. Ogden
  • K.J. Pilcher
  • Leah Vann
  • All Opinion
  • Editorial Mission
  • Guest Columnists
  • Letters to the Editor
  • Political Cartoons
  • Staff Columnists
  • Staff Editorials
  • Submit a Letter or Column

Our Columnists

  • Todd Dorman
  • Adam Sullivan
  • All Food and Drink
  • Chew on This
  • Recipes
  • Restaurants
  • All Business
  • Agriculture
  • Business Notes
  • Companies
  • Personal Finance
  • Economy
  • Employment
  • Energy
  • Manufacturing
  • Openings & Closures
  • Real Estate
  • Retail
  • Small Business
  • Transportation

Our Journalists

  • Rod Boshart
  • Erin Jordan
  • John Steppe
  • All Obituaries
  • In Memory Of
  • Submit an Obituary
  • All Podcasts
  • Daily News Podcast
  • Fact Checker
  • Hlastradamus Odds
  • Iowa Prep Sports
  • On Iowa
  • On Iowa Politics
  • On UNI
  • Pinning Combination
  • All Entertainment
  • Art
  • Books
  • Museums & Galleries
  • Music
  • Theater
  • Things To Do
  • All Living
  • Health & Wellness
  • Home & Garden
  • Milestones
  • People & Places
  • Pets & Animals
  • Recreation
  • Religion & Belief
  • Travel

Our Writers

  • Diana Nollen
  • See All
  • Kids Cooking Series
  • Kids Galleries
  • Printables
  • Activities
  • Articles
  • Submissions
  • Resources
  • All Photos and Videos
  • The Iowa Photo
  • Photo Store

Our Photojournalists

  • Andy Abeyta
  • Liz Martin
  • Rebecca Miller
  • Jim Slosiarek
  • Gazette Visuals
  • All Milestones
  • Anniversaries
  • Days To Remember
  • Engagements
  • Holidays
  • In Remembrance
  • New Arrivals
  • Thank Yous
  • Submit a Milestone
  • Arrests
  • Building Permits
  • Interactive Maps & Charts
  • Salaries
  • Classifieds
  • Corridor Careers
  • Garage Sales
  • Gazette Gives Back
  • Gazette Rewards
  • Gazette Store
  • Green Gazette
  • HER
  • Iowa Wedding Experience
  • Holiday Light Finder
  • Hoopla
  • Iowa Ideas
  • Photo Store
  • About The Gazette
  • Archives
  • Article Removal
  • Business Directory
  • CR Arrest Database
  • Mobile Apps
  • Customer Care
  • Order Back Issues
  • Privacy Policies
  • Puzzle Answers
  • Sponsorship Requests
  • Submit a Letter
  • Weather
Daily News PodcastDaily News Podcast Daily NewslettersDaily Newsletters
LOG OUT

FOLLOW US

More Stories

Iowa State Patrol trooper killed during standoff

Hari Michele Osofsky is first University of Iowa presidential finalist…

Despite their discomfort, some residents beginning to agree to COVID-19…

CANCELED: Operation Quickfind issued for Marion boy

Iowa OSHA: Anamosa prison didn’t have reliable radios

After border visit, Hinson calls for reinstating Trump policies

Visitor restrictions eased at Cedar Rapids hospitals

Joni Ernst says ‘zero’ chance she will run for president…

Home / News / Health Care and Medicine

University of Iowa to start giving trial coronavirus vaccines Thursday

Vanessa MillerBy: Vanessa Miller Jul. 29, 2020 4:46 pm Updated: Jul. 30, 2020 5:48 pm
University of Iowa to start giving trial coronavirus vaccines Thursday

IOWA CITY - The University of Iowa will start giving trial coronavirus vaccines to volunteers Thursday as part of a research study investigating a potential inoculation against deadly COVID-19.

The trial - sponsored by Pfizer and BioNTech, two companies working in concert - aims to enroll 30,000 healthy volunteers willing to take the 'investigational” vaccines, which the U.S. Food and Drug Administration hasn't formally approved because they're being tested.

The UI portion of the trial will involve about 250 volunteers ages 18 to 85 who are generally healthy, not pregnant, and have jobs or engage in activities that put them at heightened risk of contracting COVID-19, according to Patricia Winokur, executive dean of the UI Carver College of Medicine and principal investigator for the UI trial site.

Examples of those high-risk jobs include food industry workers and front-line health care providers, she said.

'It is important to enroll a diverse population to ensure that the vaccine is equally effective in different ages, races, genders,” Winokur said.

The study's vaccines, aiming to help a body produce antibodies to fight off the disease, will be given by injection, according to a UI Vaccine Research and Education summary of the trial.

'These vaccines are all slightly different but work in the same way,” the summary said. 'The study also will test each of these vaccines at different dose levels (amounts of vaccine).”

In stressing the impetus for the investigation, the university notes COVID-19's global spread - it has infected 16.8 million internationally, 4.4 million in the United States and nearly 43,200 people in Iowa so far. It has killed over 661,300 globally, 149,400 nationally and 844 in this state.

According to Winokur and the UI trial summary, participants will receive either a test vaccine or a placebo that looks like the study vaccine but does not contain active ingredients. For this trial, the placebo will contain saline.

Everyone in the study will get two injections. For every one person who receives the vaccine, another person will get a placebo. The two injections will come either three weeks or two months apart, according to the university.

A participant could be in the study for up to 26 months and would need to visit a study site at least six times, plus any time after experiencing COVID-19 symptoms and after feeling better.

Enrollment aims to finish in three months.

'We have received vaccine for a portion of the subjects who will be enrolled at Iowa and additional doses will be shipped as we use up our initial allocated stock,” Winokur said.

Trial participants must give about 25 ml of blood five times over the study duration - used to test antibody levels, according to the university.

'And we will be soliciting information on whether the participants have evidence of sore arm, fever, muscle aches from the vaccine, and then will be evaluating for evidence of COVID infection throughout the study,” Winokur said, stressing that participants will be followed for two years 'to see if they develop symptoms of COVID.”

Researchers also will be taking nasal swabs to check for new illnesses consistent with COVID 'because half of subjects will be getting a placebo and half will be getting the active vaccine.”

They'll compare onset of COVID-19 infection between the test groups, and they'll evaluate antibody responses.

'But the true test is the ability to prevent infection,” Winokur said.

UIHC has been at the forefront of COVID-19-related research since the illness began its spread nationally - affording it the opportunity to offer trial treatments to its coronavirus patients, including convalescent plasma and Remdesivir.

The National Institutes of Health this week announced the start of the country's first large clinical trial to investigate a COVID-19 vaccine - codeveloped by biotechnology company Moderna Inc., and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. That trial is expected to enroll about 30,000 adults who don't have COVID-19.

A New York Times report on the trial indicates researchers will observe whether fewer vaccinated people contract COVID-19 and also whether the vaccine can avert severe cases of the disease and death.

That Times report mentions Pfizer's recent announcement it, too, has begun a late-stage COVID-19 vaccine study, working with BioNTech to enroll 30,000 people from 39 states in this country, Brazil, Argentina and Germany.

The federal government last week announced a $1.95 billion deal to buy 100 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine by year's end if the trial proves successful.

Comments: (319) 339-3158; vanessa.miller@thegazette.com

A Pfizer sign is seen out front of the Pfizer Research & Development Laboratories Wednesday, July 22, 2020, in Groton, CT. (AP Photo/Stew Milne)
Daily Report, Coronavirus
Vanessa Miller

Vanessa Miller

Reporter, The Gazette

Higher education reporter for The Gazette in Eastern Iowa. I love news tips, story ideas and reader feedback.

Hari Michele Osofsky is first University of Iowa presidential finalist…

University of Iowa hasn’t finalized athletics loan terms, interest rate

Regent committee recommends $10-$15 million for new Children’s Hospital windows

First University of Iowa presidential finalist to visit Monday

Iowa universities eye COVID vaccines for students

All articles by Vanessa

Give us feedback

We work hard to provide fair, accurate coverage because we value your trust. If you find an error or omission in our reporting, please tell us here.

Submit a story idea

Do you have a story idea that we should look into? Please tell us here.

Related Stories

Iowa adds 666 virus cases on Thursday

Iowa adds 666 virus cases on Thursday

Gage Miskimen Health Care and Medicine Apr. 8, 2021 4:39 pm

No one hurt in Cedar Rapids house fire

No one hurt in Cedar Rapids house fire

Gazette staff Crime and Courts Apr. 6, 2021 12:15 pm

Iowa state park camping fees increase for the first time…

Iowa state park camping fees increase for the first time…

Erin Jordan Government & Politics Apr. 5, 2021 9:51 pm

Health Care & Medicine

Linn and Johnson outpace state in rate of adults completing…

Linn and Johnson outpace state in rate of adults completing…

John McGlothlen

News 90m ago

Despite their discomfort, some residents beginning to agree to COVID-19…

Despite their discomfort, some residents beginning to agree to COVID-19…

Michaela Ramm

Health Care and Medicine Apr. 11, 2021 12:04 pm

Iowa adds 616 new coronavirus cases

Iowa adds 616 new coronavirus cases

The Gazette

News Apr. 10, 2021 4:07 pm

Iowa City Free Medical Clinic marks 50 years in operation

Iowa City Free Medical Clinic marks 50 years in operation

Michaela Ramm

Health Care and Medicine Apr. 9, 2021 6:20 pm

News

Hari Michele Osofsky is first University of Iowa presidential finalist…

Hari Michele Osofsky is first University of Iowa presidential finalist…

Vanessa Miller

Higher Ed 13m ago

Despite their discomfort, some residents beginning to agree to COVID-19…

Despite their discomfort, some residents beginning to agree to COVID-19…

Michaela Ramm

Health Care and Medicine Apr. 11, 2021 12:04 pm

CANCELED: Operation Quickfind issued for Marion boy

CANCELED: Operation Quickfind issued for Marion boy

The Gazette

Crime and Courts Apr. 11, 2021 11:40 am

Iowa State Patrol trooper killed during standoff

Iowa State Patrol trooper killed during standoff

AP

Crime and Courts Apr. 11, 2021 8:13 am

Education

University of Iowa hasn’t finalized athletics loan terms, interest rate

University of Iowa hasn’t finalized athletics loan terms, interest rate

Vanessa Miller

Higher Ed Apr. 9, 2021 6:45 pm

Iowa EdTech Collaborative receives almost $400,000 in federal grant

Iowa EdTech Collaborative receives almost $400,000 in federal grant

John Steppe

Business News Apr. 9, 2021 2:24 pm

’1619 Project’ creator Nikole Hannah-Jones says reparations for slavery must…

’1619 Project’ creator Nikole Hannah-Jones says reparations for slavery must…

Grace King

K-12 Education Apr. 9, 2021 6:48 pm

Sen. Joni Ernst learns about Waterloo center that gets people…

Sen. Joni Ernst learns about Waterloo center that gets people…

By Andrew Wind

Federal Government Apr. 8, 2021 4:59 pm

Sports

Metro duo produce for fifth-ranked Louisville baseball

Metro duo produce for fifth-ranked Louisville baseball

K.J. Pilcher

Sports Apr. 11, 2021 1:26 am

UNI football hangs with, but can’t beat, No. 2 North…

UNI football hangs with, but can’t beat, No. 2 North…

UNI Panther Football Apr. 10, 2021 8:50 pm

Photos: UNI Panthers vs. NDSU Bison

Photos: UNI Panthers vs. NDSU Bison

Gazette Visuals

UNI Panther Football Apr. 10, 2021 8:34 pm

Kirkwood advances to NJCAA D-II women’s basketball tournament

Kirkwood advances to NJCAA D-II women’s basketball tournament

Justin Webster

Sports Apr. 10, 2021 7:25 pm

FOLLOW US

The Gazette is Iowa’s independent, employee-owned source for local, state, and national news coverage.

© 2021 The Gazette

All Rights Reserved.

  • Advertise with us
  • Privacy
  • Web Accessibility

Contact Us

  • 116 3rd St SE
    Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
  • customercare@thegazette.com
  • (319) 398-8333
  • Live Chat

Links

  • Puzzle Answers
  • CR Arrest Database
  • Article Removal Request
  • Archives
  • Green Gazette
  • Corridor Careers Jobs
  • Work at The Gazette
  • Customer Care

© 2021 The Gazette

All Rights Reserved.

  • Advertise with us
  • Privacy
  • Web Accessibility
Folience A Folience Company