AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine to be tested at military sites

Sept. 3 (UPI) -- Five Department of Defense facilities will participate in the Phase 3 trial of a COVID-19 vaccine, the Pentagon announced Thursday.

According to the Department of Defense, researchers are still seeking volunteers for the next phase of testing for AZD1222, a COVID-19 vaccine candidate under development by AstraZeneca.

The upcoming trial will take place at Naval Medical Center in San Diego, Joint Base San Antonio, Wilford Hall Ambulatory Surgical Center in San Diego, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., and Fort Belvoir Community Hospital in Fort Belvoir, Virginia.

"The Department of Defense continues to play a key role in the development of a potential COVID-19 vaccine," Tom McCaffery, assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, said in a statement.

"Now that vaccines have passed the first phases of testing for safety, dosing and response, we are ready to move into the next phase where volunteers are needed to join large clinical studies," McCaffery said. "We are excited to have several sites identified to support the next steps in the vaccine development process."

AZD1222 is one of several vaccine candidates under development under Operation Warp Speed, the U.S. federal government's effort to create and distribute a vaccine against the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

The vaccine is the result of a partnership between AstraZeneca and Oxford Vaccine Group, with funding from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, a branch of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, as well as the British government.

Researchers are looking to enroll essential workers, individuals living or working in densely congregated environments and members of high-risk groups to participate in the trial.