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NHS COVID-19 vaccine research registry launches

A new NHS service has been launched today to enable people to sign up to participate in COVID-19 vaccine trials.

The service allows people to sign up to inform researchers they are happy to be contacted to take part in these studies.

Researchers have opened the call seeking people from all backgrounds and ages, including both people with or without existing health conditions.

The NHS Covid-19 vaccine research registry, has been developed in partnership with NHS Digital, UK Government’s Vaccine Taskforce and the Institute for Health Research, and is aiming to recruit large numbers over the next few months.

Tom Denwood, NHS Digital Executive Director for Data, Insights and Statistics, said: “Vaccines are one of the safest and most effective ways of keeping people healthy and have the potential to help us beat COVID-19.”

“There is some incredible vaccine development underway, as highlighted in recent media reports. However, in order to develop a vaccine that works for different groups of people, researchers of the vaccine studies need to run multiple simultaneous studies – and that means finding a large number of volunteers who would like to take part in them.”

“This new service should make a real difference in expanding the number of volunteers, and we are proud to be the technology delivery partner, supporting the collective national effort.”

John Nother, National Institute for Health Research, Chief Digital Officer, said: “This new online service will be a vital tool in the fight against this disease as large scale vaccine studies get underway within the UK.”

“The new system will enable researchers to quickly identify and match suitable and willing volunteers to appropriate vaccine trials. In doing so, it will bring enormous benefits, not only to the NHS and health researchers – but to everyone living in the UK.”

“Signing up and giving your permission to be contacted means you may be amongst the first to find out about opportunities to take part in trials and the latest, cutting-edge COVID-19 vaccines. There is no obligation to join in any study, if you are contacted, but by taking part, you could help researchers find a vaccine to protect us all more quickly – which in turn could help the NHS and save lives.”

To find out more visit www.nhs.uk/researchcontact.