Marshfield Clinic Research Institute Sole Laboratory in Recent CDC Study

Tuesday, March 30th, 2021 -- 11:01 AM

Marshfield Clinic Research Institute, the research division of Marshfield Clinic Health System, was the sole reference laboratory in the nation to support a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention led study that shows mRNA vaccines to be 90% effective after the second dose against SARS-CoV-2, and 80% after the first dose.

The Research Institute, which received a $22.5 million grant from the CDC in July 2020 to play a leading role in a number of COVID-19 studies across the U.S., tested 3,950 samples each week for 13 consecutive weeks from health care personnel, first responders and other frontline and essential workers from across the U.S.

The study demonstrated in real world conditions the effectiveness of mRNA vaccines in both symptomatic and asymptomatic COVID-19.  Study link: https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7013e3.htm?s_cid=mm7013e3_w.

The Research Institute's role in the study was testing the specimens, which came from participants who self-swabbed and mailed them to Marshfield. Some of the participants expressed their appreciation for the study by including personal notes and drawings for the researchers.

Monday's vaccine effectiveness study is an interim analysis and will continue to be updated, much like annual national influenza vaccine studies in which the Research Institute participates.

Future updates may address the effectiveness of newer COVID-19 vaccines, including single dose vaccines, and the protection against infection with SARS-CoV-2 variants as those inevitably arise.

This was the first of many COVID-19-related studies the Research Institute will help publish in the coming months as a result of the $22.5 million grant and subsequent grants.

The vaccine effectiveness study results are encouraging, but the pandemic continues as the vaccine supply is still limited and variants spread.

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