P(Vaccine)
The Palos Verdes Medical Group (PVMG) is a medical research institute located in Palos Verdes and is one of 11 facilities in the world chosen to conduct a clinical trial for a coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine. The PVMG research is currently being conducted at Peninsula Research Associates (PRA), PRA head doctor Lawrence Sher’s research facility. Food Allergy Coordinator and researcher in COVID-19 vaccine trials at PVMG, Leigh Ann Schmidt, provided insight into the qualifications necessary to be one of the few facilities selected to organize trials.
“First and foremost, our research facility was chosen because we are a known vaccine trial center due to our past experiences and successes in other clinical research,” Schmidt said. “We were required to perform specific procedures seen in other vaccine trials and had to have the ability to process samples to see how possible vaccines would work, which only a handful of sites across the country can perform.”
Schmidt also explained the process by which PVMG is conducting the first of many trials. The first vaccine trial would require 100 healthy participants from the peninsula community, and subsequent trials would need over 400 participants. Patients will be tested to determine if they have one of the two COVID-19 antibodies through administered blood tests. The two antibodies that the doctors are looking for are called immunoglobulin M (IgM) and immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies; IgM antibodies are found in those with a recent infection, while IgG appears in those who experienced past infections. Blood samples are collected by a finger prick and provide results in 10 minutes, but the entire antibody trial process takes several months.
“While [an antibody test] is one part of the study, we must also test for those currently infected with COVID-19 by use of a nasal swab, which is then examined with a nucleic acid test,” Schmidt said. “Nucleic acid tests are used to detect viral [ribonucleic acid] and typically take two to three days to return from the lab.”
While PVMG is working tirelessly to produce a safe vaccine, the research itself requires repetitive trial and error. The main concern for research institutes is whether the vaccine is ready for human use and effective at combating COVID-19.
“It is estimated that even if all COVID-19 vaccines are approved, we still will not have enough dosages to vaccinate the entire population until 2024,” Schmidt said. “While it is not necessarily difficult to create a vaccine for COVID-19 [with 3 vaccines in late-phase development], vaccines like Polio, Tetanus, Measles, Mumps and Rubella [have taken] several years to fully develop [and be approved].”
Other concerns about the timeline of vaccine production include its impact on schools returning to in-person learning. However, Principal Brent Kuykendall believes that the school’s short-term plan for reopening does not necessarily depend on the creation of a vaccine. Instead, he suggested steps that the community can take in the meantime to flatten the curve of the virus.
“Different steps and baselines allow for different actions for schools to reopen,” Kuykendall said. “My advice for opening sooner rather than later would be to wear masks and socially distance; this has [been] proven to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and will allow us to reopen Peninsula much sooner.”
As the overall number of cases within the Peninsula community have decreased, PVPUSD superintendent Alex Cherniss has sent a district-wide email announcing the possible plan for the reopening of schools in November for hybrid learning. Although junior Simren Parikh is one of the many students who opted for the Distance Learning Academy (DLA) model, Parikh has high hopes for the creation of a successful vaccine and its implication upon returning to in-person school.
“Vaccines are a fundamental part in stopping the spread of a virus,” Parikh said. “I chose DLA purely for the purpose of avoiding being infected, so I would feel more confident returning [to in person school] if there were an overall decreased number of COVID cases.”
