Bicester mum still confident in children Oxford vaccine trial

Becki Davidson’s children, 14-year-old Lily-Mae and 17-year-old Lochlann, are among 300 volunteers who enrolled on the scheme in February.

Of the volunteers, 240 would get the real vaccine, while the other 60 would be given a control meningitis jab.

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The trial is to assess whether the vaccine can produce a strong immune response in children aged between six and 17.

But, as regulators investigated reports of a rare form of blood clot among some adults who have received the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab, the trial for children was paused.

Lily-Mae has already had both jabs and Lochlann has received one, but Mrs Davidson remains confident in the trial.

She said: “From the way it’s portrayed I think everybody had a couple of minutes of panic, but obviously once you’ve had a chance to actually digest everything and understand the facts - especially as they say now you’re more likely to get a blood clot from having Covid itself than the vaccination - any worries that I may have had are certainly not concerns now.

Mum supports her two children who are taking part in covid vaccine trial..20/02/2021.Picture by Ed Nix..

“I don’t think I would have been human to have not worried when I saw it initially, especially when they’re children, but now I feel fine about it.”

The mum-of-three said her son was fine with the investigations taking place, but felt it important to explain the facts to her daughter, who is younger.

She added: “Most of the risk - if you look at it as a risk - is a few days after having the first vaccination and at this point she’d (Lily-Mae) already had her first one and she’s been fine.”

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Lochlann will no longer have his second jab following the recommendation of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) that people under 30 should be offered an alternative jab to the Oxford one.

Researchers have decided that further vaccinations in the trial will be postponed to allow discussions with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the trial’s Data Safety Monitoring Board.

All other visits, such as blood tests, will continue.

Mrs Davidson says Lochlann still would have had the second jab if vaccinations were continuing. She added: “We’re doing all that we need to do for the trial, the only thing that will stop is the second vaccination for my son. If the opportunity was there for my son to have his second jab, which he would have been due for, we would have, at this point, let him do that.”