It’s become pretty clear that unless some sort of miracle takes place, we aren’t going to really dig ourselves out of the coronavirus pandemic without a vaccine.
Fortunately, researchers have been hustling to design, test and eventually mass-produce a vaccine that’ll bring us some immunity against COVID-19. Initial evidence on the safety and effectiveness of some of the potential vaccines is promising. As Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said, it’s something to be “cautiously optimistic” about.
Still, there’s no guarantee that any of the vaccines now being tested will do the trick. We need more clinical trials. To carry out those trials, researchers need tons of volunteers — people of all ages, genders, ethnicities and backgrounds — to ensure that the final vaccines work across the general population.
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What it’s like to be a vaccine trial participant.
Before you get accepted as a volunteer for a vaccine trial, you will get screened to ensure you’re in good health. First up is a brief phone screening, and if you pass that, you’ll undergo an in-person screening, which may include a physical. If you get the green light (and some will on the same day as the in-person screening, depending on the trial), you will have blood drawn and receive the first dose of the vaccine via an injection, Kublin explained.
Then, you go home and record any symptoms or side effects (think: a rash, pain at the injection site, a slight fever). This goes on for a few weeks, at which point you go back to the trial site for a quick health exam, have some more blood drawn and receive the second dose, which boosts the vaccine’s effect. You continue tracking your symptoms for a few more weeks.
After that, unless you have symptoms or side effects that require further evaluation, all that’s required from you is a quick blood draw every three to six months for up to two years to see if your immune response holds up or wanes, according to Kublin. (Some trials may involve more frequent blood draws; it depends on what the researchers are looking for.)
Andrew Rubin, the senior vice president for clinical affairs and ambulatory care at NYU Langone, has been participating in a Phase 1 clinical trial. He said the process has been relatively simple. Other than the first appointment, which lasted three hours, each subsequent appointment was only a half-hour long.
After both injections, Rubin developed mild flu-like symptoms — a slight fever, some aches and pains.
“Prepare yourself to feel not 100% for a day, for 24 hours,” said Rubin, adding that he didn’t know if that would happen in other trials.
In any case, Rubin said he’d do it all over again. He said he felt “totally safe, totally monitored, and exceptionally well cared for.” (Note that in Rubin’s trial, researchers were testing various dosage levels of the vaccine, so he may have received a higher dose than what participants in subsequent trials of that vaccine would receive.)
If you happened to get infected with the virus (say, from a family member or on the job) while you were participating in the vaccine trial, you would either quarantine at home or be treated in a health facility. “We’re paying an immense amount of attention and effort to ensure that participants in these clinical trials who do get infected are monitored as closely as possible,” Kublin said.
But keep this in mind: The vaccines themselves cannot give you COVID-19 as they don’t actually contain any of the coronavirus itself. A vaccine is designed to turn on your immune system and go after the virus if you are exposed.
Rubin said he got involved because he wanted to give back to all the health care workers on the front lines who’ve been battling COVID-19 and putting their own lives at risk. “I wanted to be able to say I contributed to the effort to stop this crisis,” he said.
Volunteers do get compensated for their time. Kublin said most trials pay about $50 per appointment, which can amount to anywhere from $500 to $1,200 for the full trial.
Source: Should You Volunteer For A COVID-19 Vaccine Trial? Here’s What You Need To Know.
