First time posting here. I thought some here might be interested to hear what it’s like to be a Covid Vaccine study participant.
I enrolled in the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine study in August after it popped up on my facebook feed, I figured someone has to do it, why not me? I’m a relatively healthy 47-year-old guy, and a bit of a science geek, so I thought it would be interesting and a fun cocktail party story whenever we can have those again.
The Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine candidate, as explained to me by the study doctor and the supporting literature they gave me, is an mRNA vaccine. Basically a small piece of the virus’s messenger RNA is injected into you, and this instructs your own cells to make the “spike protein” of the coronavirus, which your immune system then recognizes as an invader and creates antibodies to clear it out. (obviously this is a very simplified explanation, I'll let an actual scientist explain it in better terms)
Because I had just received my flu shot, I had to wait three weeks to get my first Covid trial shot. So I got the first shot in early September and received my second injection three weeks later. (Pfizer’s are 3 weeks apart while Moderna’s are 4 weeks apart) After the first shot I only experienced a sore arm for a few days.
The night after the second shot, however, I awoke with pretty bad chills around 4am. I don't recall ever having chills that bad before, my teeth were chattering. Unfortunately I was a bit too out of it to think to take my temperature. Anyway, I took some Advil, went back to sleep and woke up feeling normal, just a sore arm again.
I called the study doctor to report my symptoms and she said many people had the same reaction. Just to be clear, this isn't what I would call a “side effect” as it is an indication that my immune system produced the desired response. Also, I say this just to let people know what to expect, in no way do I want to dissuade anyone from getting vaccinated, the effects came and went in a couple of hours. Really no big deal in the grand scheme of things.
Technically I don’t know for sure if I'm in the vaccine group or not, but I doubt my body could produce a placebo-effect that strong, so it’s a safe assumption that I was given the vaccine.
I believe they call this “functional unblinding”, when a study participant experiences the effects (or side effects) of a medication, leading them to surmise that they’ve been given the active medication. Needless to say, I'm still practicing social distancing, masking, and all other protocols as if I were never vaccinated.
In late October I went in for my first post-vaccine blood draw where I assume they’re checking for anti-bodies and other signs of immune response. I’ll go in again in March, which would be the 6 month mark, then again at the year mark, and finally again at the two year mark. (these later check-ups will reveal how long possible immunity will last)
Additionally I fill out a weekly diary on an app, basically to just report if I have any Covid symptoms or not. I get $120 loaded to a debit card for each in-office visit, and $5 a week for filling out my diary. (which I will be donating to ActBlue, naturally)
They also sent me home with my own Covid test kit, if I do get symptoms and the study doctor thinks I need to be tested, I have to test myself and a courier will pick up the sample. Since the study is double-blind I don’t get the results of any of these tests, so I'd have to test again if I'm sick and want to know my Covid status.
An interesting side note about the Pfizer vaccine, since it has to be kept at well below freezing temperatures, I had to wait for a half hour while they prepared the injection. Even if it was just the saline placebo, they have to pretend to let it thaw out so that neither myself nor the study doctor will know if it’s the “real” shot or not. I then had to wait another half hour afterward, just to be sure there was no immediate adverse reaction, which there wasn’t.
Only the computer that randomly chooses who is in the active and placebo groups, and the person who actually pulled the vial out of deep-freeze (or not) knows what I was given, and they’re sequestered from the rest of the study.
Overall I would say it’s been a positive experience, and I get to say I did a small part to get us out of this ghastly predicament. I only wish they’d given me better warning about the effects I would feel the night after the second shot. They said I could experience some flu-like symptoms, boy was that an understatement. I read that someone in the Moderna trial had chills so bad he cracked a tooth! Others reported feeling fatigued the day after and other minor symptoms. Still a small price to pay IMHO.
It will take a bit of public education to let people know that this reaction is actually a good thing, it means your immune system is mounting a robust response.
Here’s hoping that all of these vaccine candidates produce promising results! The last movie I saw in the theater was the gorgeous Emma, I work as a movie trailer editor, so let’s all keep our fingers crossed that it won’t be the last movie I’ll see in theaters.