COLLEGE PARK, Md. — The University of Maryland will be one of over 20 universities around the country taking part in a special clinical trial that will examine whether the COVID-19 vaccine can help prevent spreading the deadly virus.
The study, which is being called "Prevent COVID U," will involve around 12,000 college students.
The pool of selected students will be divided into two groups, with one receiving the Moderna vaccine right away and the other receiving the vaccine four months later.
While many medical experts believe the vaccine can help prevent severe illness, researchers of the clinical trial with college students hope to get a more detailed view of whether vaccinated people can carry the virus and spread it.
Researchers said the trial will require participants to undergo rigorous testing during the process and for over 25,000 people identified as "close contacts" of the individuals to also participate by providing daily swabs of their nose for two weeks.
"This trial is looking in a really rigorous in-depth way whether people who are vaccinated can still get an infection with Covid," said Dr. Audrey Pettifor, who is helping to coordinate the study and spoke to WUSA 9 on Monday.
Pettifor said college campuses serve an ideal environment for the study due to the density of the student population and the close living quarters that are shared.
The announcement of the study came as the University of Maryland continued to hold virtual classes before possibly reopening a limited number of classrooms following spring break.
COVID-19 cases have fluctuated on campus over the past year.
As of Sunday night, the University of Maryland's official COVID-19 dashboard showed 34 new cases reported at the school over the last week while 93% of quarantine and isolation housing was available on campus.
Dan Alpert, a senior who also serves as student body president, said he was glad to see the university's involvement in the clinical trial.
"As you get your vaccine, can you still affect others? That’s very important for the general public to know," he said. "College campuses are a unique situation. We have these congregate living situations. We also have the behavior of college students that is not normally in line with what the normal public does.”
Researchers said participants could earn up to $1,000 being a part of the study.
Results are expected in September and will help provide valuable information on social distancing and mask-wearing following a vaccination.
Students interested in signing up for the study can do so here.
Other schools participating in the trial include:
- Charles Drew University
- Clemson University
- Indiana University – Bloomington
- Morehouse School of Medicine
- Northwestern University
- Stony Brook University
- Texas A&M – College Station
- Texas A&M – Kingsville
- University of Arizona
- University of California – San Diego
- University of Colorado – Boulder
- University of Florida – Gainesville
- University of Illinois – Urbana-Champaign
- University of Kentucky
- University of Maryland – College Park
- University of Nebraska
- University of North Carolina
- University of Virginia
- University of Washington
- Wake Forest
- West Virginia University
- Winston-Salem State University