clinical trials

A rheumatologist in Miami-Dade seeks volunteers for a double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot study to test a drug that would treat COVID-19 long-hauler syndrome.

The global search for COVID-19 vaccines has included South Florida as drug companies use clinical research firms to find, manage, and follow local volunteers.

More than 50 VA medical centers are involved in trials to test vaccines and treatments for COVID-19, and the agency is calling on vets to volunteer.

Coronavirus vaccines could arrive in Florida within weeks. On "Florida Roundup," two journalists with ties to the state talk about what it’s like to participate in the clinical trials to develop the vaccines.

"If people don't take part in it, then we cannot get the vaccine approved," says Dr. Dushyantha Jayaweera. "Because if everybody waits for somebody else to do it, studies will never be completed."

The department is recruiting 8,000 volunteers for the Phase 3 clinical trials of at least four vaccine candidates at 20 federal medical facilities across the country.

The trial studied the efficacy of bamlanivimab in combination with the antiviral remdesivir on hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Researchers concluded the antibody treatment was "unlikely to help."

AstraZeneca, which is working with the University of Oxford, hasn't said what the illness is. It will try to determine whether the illness is related to the vaccine, or just a chance event.

The pledge comes one month after a survey found that only 2 in 5 Americans said they planned to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

The vaccine trial that Vice President Mike Pence kicked off in Miami on Monday gives the United States the tiniest chance of being ready to vaccinate…