Author: Cailyn Schiltz

Monday morning, UW Health announced that it will be one of the first clinical sites in the country to test a new COVID-19 vaccine. 

According to Channel 3000, The UW-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health will recruit 1,600 candidates at University Hospital over the next eight weeks to receive pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca's investigational vaccine. Nationwide, about 30,000 will participate in this study.

UW is one of only 100 sites around the country to be testing the vaccine, and they are holding themself to a high standard. The study will be randomized, double-blind and placebo controlled. The vaccine is in the final phase of human testing, according to UW Health.

UW Health explained in a press release that AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine will function the way most vaccines do, by activating an immune response in the body to build antibodies without developing the disease.

In a press release, UW Health stated “A vaccine will be the most effective tool we have to minimize the spread of COVID-19 and return to normal life.” 

Good candidates for the trial must be 18 years of age or older, in good or stable health, at an increased risk of contracting COVID-19, and have not been diagnosed with the novel coronavirus before, according to the official trial website.

To learn more about the vaccine or assess eligibility, email [email protected], call 608-262-8300 or 833-306-0681 or go to c19vaccinestudy.com.