IOWA CITY, Iowa — In August 2020, over 250 people across the state joined the Pfizer vaccine trial through the University of Iowa. Now, the same patients are helping the company the effectiveness of a third booster shot for adults.
About half of the participants are receiving their third dose while the other half will get a placebo shot.
Executive Dean of Carver College of Medicine and head of UI vaccine trials Patricia Winokur, M.D. says previously collected data from first-dose vaccine patients shows developments of COVID-19 after their first shot.
"We continue to collect all of that information for the state and the country, on whether people are breaking through. I can tell you, we are starting to see a number of people that have developed COVID-19," Winokur said. "I think it's the pressure of the Delta variant and there's a lot circulating out in the community again"
The Iowa patients will share information over time which will determine the vaccines performance.
UI Health Care also began clinical trail enrollment for a new COVID-19 vaccine from the pharmaceutical company Sanofi.