Tasmanian participants sought for PICOBOO research trial

Want to help shape Australia's vaccine program through an LGH research project?

Telethon Kids Institute researchers are working with researchers at the Launceston General Hospital to evaluate the best COVID-19 booster vaccine strategies in Australia.

The Platform Trial In COVID-19 Vaccine BOOsting (PICOBOO) Study is designed to evaluate the comparative effectiveness of COVID-19 booster vaccines.

LGH Infectious Diseases Specialist Professor Katie Flanagan is currently evaluating Pfizer Comirnaty, Moderna Spikevax and Novavax Nuvaxovid as first or second dose booster vaccinations against COVID-19.

The study will also explore the safety of booster vaccination and how well boosting protects against hospitalisation and disease.

What is the study, and why are we doing it?

Your participation in the PICOBOO Study will help researchers develop the most effective, long-term strategies for COVID-19 booster vaccinations nation-wide.

While booster vaccines are approved for use in Australia to protect us against COVID-19, many unanswered questions remain about the best strategies for vaccine boosting.

Periodic COVID-19 vaccine boosting is likely to be required in the future in order to protect against severe disease, however, it is unclear whether this will be required for all Australians or select vulnerable populations or age groups.

To inform immunisation strategies moving forward, we need to better understand how booster vaccination impacts on different aspects of the immune system and how long immunity lasts.

Am I suitable to take part?

To take part in the study you will need to have received either:

a)    two doses of Pfizer Comirnaty and be aged between 12 and 70-years old OR

b)    two doses of COVID-19 Vaccine Astra Zeneca and be ≥50 years old

AND

c)   have not received a COVID-19 vaccine within the preceding 3 months for those receiving a 1st booster (3rd vaccine dose), or 4 months for those receiving a 2nd booster (4th vaccine dose), respectively.

Want more information?

More information on the trial, including what’s needed form participants, can be found here.

Information for parents and guardians of adolescent participant can be found here.

For more information contact the research team at the Tasmanian Vaccine Trial Centre based at the Clifford Craig Foundation, Launceston General Hospital by phone: (03) 6777 6010, mobile: 0474 516 022 or email: research@cliffordcraig.org.au.

Registrations can be made online here.

This study has been approved by the Child and Adolescent Service Human Research Ethics Committee in WA. Any person with concerns or complaints about the conduct of this study should contact the Executive Director Medical Services via [08 6456 2222] who can refer your concerns to the HREC monitoring the project.