An Overview of Patient Visits from the AstraZeneca COVID-19 Investigational Vaccine Study

The Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (CTSI) was founded in 2008 with the mission to improve health challenges across Indiana. The CTSI has assisted over 5,000 investigators conduct research studies and has helped improve the care of more than 100,000 patients. The Clinical Research Center (CRC) offers clinical space, skilled nursing assistance, and resources needed for investigators to conduct their research. The CRC does not focus on one particular type of research, but offers a place for investigators from different departments to conduct their research. The CRC recently hosted the AstraZeneca study, which researched the effectiveness of an investigational vaccine against COVID-19. COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Individuals who become infected with the virus experience symptoms ranging from very mild to severe. The COVID-19 pandemic has created major socioeconomic impacts since the start of the pandemic in March 2020, hence the urgency for the creation of a vaccine. The AstraZeneca investigational vaccine delivers the genetic code for the coronavirus spike protein through a modified common cold virus. Observing how the AstraZeneca vaccine works in the study will identify how it can prevent individuals from getting sick with the COVID-19 virus.