STAFF from the Western Health and Social Trust (Western Trust) joined volunteers from across Northern Ireland (NI) to take part in a milestone study into the new Novavax Covid-19 vaccine. Three members of the Western Trust Research Team – research nurses Dawn Small, Caitriona Lavery and Donal Concannon – all played an important role within the project. The study was a large UK-wide research initiative which aimed to assess the effectiveness of the Novavax vaccine against Covid-19, involving more than 15,000 participants. After successful trials, the interim study results reported on January 28 showed that the vaccine had an efficacy rate of 89.3 percent against the acquisition of Covid-19 and the development of severe Covid-19 infections.