After losing grandfather to COVID-19, Georgia man helps test new vaccine

ATLANTA - Back in January of 2021, as the first Georgians were rolling up their sleeves for COVID-19 shots, and vaccine appointments were still hard to find, David White of Decatur, Georgia, heard about a study at Morehouse School of Medicine of an experimental new vaccine made by the Maryland company Novavax.

So, White says, he felt compelled to sign up, wanting to be a part of "history."

"Having been a part of what we're going through as a country and a nation and world, I feel like there are certain opportunities for us to step up and do our part," White says.

There was another, deeply personal reason the software sales rep and former UGA football player wanted to be a part of this research.

David White receives a shot at Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, where he is enrolled in a clinical trial of the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine.

"Having had my grandfather pass away from COVID last year, and his wife, my grandmother, also having COVID and surviving it, and a litany of other elderly in my household, I felt like I could do my part by going out and using the opportunity that Morehouse School of Medicine provided us to get my vaccine early," White says.

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Novavax has enrolled about 30,000 study participants in the U.S. and Mexico in this Phase 3 clinical trial known as "Protect-19," but the results have not yet been published.

After experiencing manufacturing delays, the company says it will likely not apply for an FDA emergency use authorization for its vaccine until later this summer.

The U.S. already has three COVID-19 vaccines, and 41% of Americans are now fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.

Still, worldwide vaccination rates are much lower.

About 1.9 billion doses of the COVID-19 vaccines have been administered, enough to fully vaccinate just 12.7% of the world's population, according to the Bloomberg vaccine data tracker.

Dr. Lilly Immergluck, the principal investigator on the Morehouse School of Medicine arm of the Novavax study, says, if it is authorized by the FDA, the Novavax vaccine could offer another tool to stop SARS-CoV-2 and end the pandemic.

Recently, the company also began testing the vaccine on teens from 12 to 17.

"I really think, as a pediatrician and infectious disease specialist, we need to get the children vaccinated in order for us to really hang our hat of vaccine effectiveness," Dr. Immergluck says.

The Novavax vaccine performed well in an earlier phase 3 clinical trial in the UK.

The company says it offered 96% protection against COVID-19 symptoms and 86% and 50% protective against the more contagious UK and South African variants of the virus.

David White says he had a sore arm after his second shot, but that was about it. 

"We haven't had people with any severe adverse effect, (just) soreness of the arm, maybe people feel tired, headache here or there," Dr. Immergluck says.  "So, from that perspective, I'm really pleased about our site."

Novavax also has another vaccine project in development. 

It is in early testing of a shot that combines the company's experimental flu and COVID-19 vaccines.

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