Thwarted by N.L. travel restrictions, man drops out of COVID-19 vaccine trial in order to visit
Newfoundland and Labrador's travel restrictions bar people participating in clinical trials for COVID-19 vaccines, with one man saying he decided to drop out of a trial in order to visit his summer home on the island's east coast.
Kevin Weiss of Toronto signed up in March for a clinical trial on Quebec's Medicago vaccine, half out of "altruism," he said, to advance vaccine science — and also to potentially get inoculated at a time when it was unclear when his demographic might be protected under a Health Canada-approved shot.
Weiss got both shots of Medicago, a vaccine with clinical trials currently in Phase 3 across North America, Latin America and Europe, after the drugmaker said its Phase 2 trial showed promising results in battling the coronavirus.
But as the months marched on toward his family's annual trip to Bell Island — a ritual he said has been going on for years, albeit interrupted in 2020 by the pandemic — Weiss began to worry that without an approved shot, he might run into trouble.
Hope appeared when United Kingdom trial participants for any COVID-19 vaccine were told they'd be treated as equal to anyone who had received an approved shot there — even if participants had received a placebo, saying the benefits outweigh the risk.
"Clinical trials of COVID-19 vaccinations are critical for responding to COVID-19. They are a global public health good," stated an open letter from the U.K.'s deputy chief medical officer, Jonathan Van-Tam.
That news gave Weiss "some bit of relief," he said.
"But that wasn't the case, as we got nearer to our trip here."
The Newfoundland and Labrador government balked at giving Weiss the same status as his U.K. trial counterparts, according to emails between him and the office of the province's chief medical officer of health.
"Individuals such as yourself who are participants in the Medicago vaccine trial will need to follow the requirements of unvaccinated travelers until there is new evidence on the effectiveness of this vaccine," stated one email to Weiss.
'An unfortunate situation'
Facing a 14-day quarantine to come to Bell Island, Weiss provided antibody samples to show his immune system's response to the vaccine, but his back-and-forth with the province proved fruitless.
"I did some thinking, hard thinking, and I unfortunately … made an appointment to get another vaccination, an approved vaccination," Weiss said.
His Pfizer-BioNTech shot meant he could skip N.L.'s isolation requirements after a negative COVID-19 test, and he and his family are now settled on Bell Island for the summer.
But Pfizer also meant he was disqualified from the Medicago trial.
"It's an unfortunate situation," he said, pointing out the discrepancy between Newfoundland and Labrador and the U.K., where there are about 40,000 people dosed with trial vaccines or placebos given the green light.
"It's unfortunate that … these things couldn't be addressed in a bigger way, rather than having, you know, different provinces and countries having to react accordingly," Weiss said.
Medicago itself "believes that clinical trials participants should not be disadvantaged with respect to providing proof of vaccination," according to its website. The company stated it is "actively discussing" with various national governments to create documentation to recognize vaccine trial candidates as valid.
CBC News did not receive a response to its interview requests with the provincial government. In an email to Weiss, the office of the chief medical officer of health said the restrictions remain "to protect the health of the population," particularly with an older demographic, and one prone to chronic disease.
"I have no hard feelings to the province about this," said Weiss, adding the Medicago trial has experienced a lot of dropouts within Canada.
The company is no longer recruiting Canadian candidates, along with those in the U.K. and United States, saying the change is due to the availability of licensed vaccines.
With files from Peter Cowan