Medical Monday: VUMC's Conduct New Vaccine Study

As the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) adds a third COVID-19 vaccine to the rollout, a multicenter study, led by Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC), will evaluate how effective the vaccines are in preventing hospitalization from COVID-19.

In 2020, clinical trial data showed that the current SARS-CoV-2 vaccines were effective at preventing infections and severe illness from COVID-19 in the clinical trial setting.

This study will determine how well these vaccines are working in real-world settings, as they are given to large populations across the country, said Wesley Self, MD, MPH, associate professor and vice chair for Research in the Department of Emergency Medicine, Vice President for Clinical Research Networks & Strategy in VICTR, and the study's principal investigator.

Hospitalized adults with COVID-19, and two control groups who do not have COVID-19, will be enrolled at 21 hospitals, nationwide, for a 10-month period. The study will be conducted by the Influenza and Other Viruses in the Acutely Ill (IVY) Network, which is a national research collaborative led by VUMC.

"By comparing vaccination rates in the patients hospitalized with COVID-19 and control groups without COVID-19, we will estimate how effective the vaccine is at preventing COVID-19-associated hospitalizations," Self said. "We will be comparing the effectiveness of different vaccine types that are being used in the U.S. and investigating why some patients have a vaccine failure, that is, why some people become severely ill with COVID-19 despite vaccination."