Southampton's COVID-19 vaccine trial volunteers thanked by Prime Minister

The Prime Minister along with the UK’s top scientific advisers have paid tribute to the hundreds of volunteers who have already signed up to the COVID-19 vaccination trials in Southampton.

At the daily Downing Street briefing held on Wednesday, 10 June, Boris Johnson, Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Patrick Vallance and Chief Medical Officer for England Professor Chris Whitty all thanked residents in the city who have already volunteered for the COVID-19 trial being run by researchers at University Hospital Southampton and the University of Southampton in conjunction with clinical teams in Oxford.

Professor Whitty said: “Actually Southampton has a real record of citizens taking part in trials, in studies and this is the way medicine progresses not just for coronavirus but generally, so an enormous thank you for what people do to volunteer.”

Sir Patrick added: “We got to find out what works, what doesn’t and the way to do that is volunteers and every time somebody volunteers for a trial that is them being selfless for the rest of society so a big thank you from me.”

The second phase of the trial is still open to volunteers. Further information can be found on the vaccine trial participate website here.