OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - The University of Nebraska Medical Center and Nebraska Medicine are participating in national testing of a potential new coronavirus vaccine for adults.
The medical center plans to enroll 1,000 study participants for the clinical trial. The potential vaccine was developed by Novavax, Inc., a U.S. biotechnology company, which plans to enroll 30,000 adults in the U.S. and Mexico. People who won't be receiving the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines in the next three to six months are encouraged to consider enrolling in the trial.
The vaccine candidate is a protein-based vaccine created from the coronavirus spike protein and an added component that boosts a person's immune response to stimulate higher levels of antibodies.
Thousands of participants have been enrolled across several large studies to test possible vaccines.
Nebraska had 517 hospitalized coronavirus patients as of Tuesday evening, down from the Nov. 20 high of 987 but still higher than the total earlier in the pandemic.
The state has confirmed 163,781 virus cases and 1,603 deaths since the pandemic began. There were 932 new cases reported on Tuesday.