Inside a freezer in a small medical office, compact boxes hold a potential shield against the coronavirus.

It's a new COVID-19 vaccine that will be administered to hundreds of Staten Island residents beginning Monday, the final phase of its clinical trial. 

What You Need To Know

  • Researchers cannot say much about the vaccine, except that it was created by a major pharmaceutical company and requires two doses, 28 days apart

  • Like the vaccines offered by Moderna and Pfizer, it doesn't rely on a weakened or dead version of a virus to trigger an immune response

  • Instead, it uses genetic codes — mRNA — to give the immune system instructions on how to recognize and attack proteins found on the COVID-19 virus

  • Anyone interested in enrolling can contact 929 -552 3111

For Clinician Priya Selvarajah, who is helping to oversee the trial at the offices of Richmond Behavioral Associates, this is personal.

"We're living in the pandemic. It's not something that I see from afar. We're part of it," Selvarajah told NY1. "I have young children that need to go to school."

Selvarajah, who is working with doctors Adam Smith and Eli Shalenberg, will not say much about the vaccine, except that it was created by a major pharmaceutical company and requires two doses, 28 days apart.

Like the vaccines offered by Moderna and Pfizer, it doesn't rely on a weakened or dead version of a virus to trigger an immune response. 

Instead, it uses genetic codes — mRNA — to give the immune system instructions on how to recognize and attack the proteins found on the COVID-19 virus.

"You receive a vaccine or possibly a placebo and the only responsibility you have as a volunteer is just to follow up with us," Dr. Eli Shalenberg said. "So we'll be asking you some questions, checking, making sure that you're doing alright, making sure that you're healthy as time goes on." 

The trial is the only one of its kind on Staten Island. 

Information gathered will be combined with data from about a hundred other sites across the country. 

Participants will receive kits with thermometers, pulse-ox meters, and nasal swabs so they can monitor their health.  

Researchers at Richmond Behavioral Associates have participated in several other clinical trials, including those exploring autism and Alzheimer's disease. But they say they're expecting this will be their largest one yet — and arguably their most important.

"The more participation of people in the community, the faster these things will be made available to the public," Dr. Adam Smith explained. "And that's something that we all want to see, because the vaccines are really the first step to life returning to normal." 

So far, about 100 people have signed up here to participate. 

But Selvarajah says they can enroll thousands more. 

Anyone interested in enrolling can contact 929 -552 3111.