Sylvia Becker-Dreps, MD, MPH and Nadja Vielot, PhD are principal investigators for an exciting and cutting-edge research opportunity to help end the COVID-19 pandemic. The “Prevent COVID U” research study, conducted by the COVID-19 Prevention Network through satellite universities around the country, launched at UNC on March 30th, 2021. The study is sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci introduced the study during a March 2021 White House COVID-19 response press briefing.
The study is focused on university students ages 18-26 years old to learn if the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine protects individuals from getting infected with SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19), and if it prevents vaccinated individuals from transmitting SARS-
CoV-2. In other words, does the Moderna vaccine protect the individual who receives the vaccine and also help protect their surrounding community? Not only will this study inform decisions on how to safely lift COVID-19 restrictions, but it also provides two doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to participating UNC students.