I'm in the trial. It's really exciting, not least because form a purely selfish point of view, I might be immune already! ...or not. But it's exciting either way!
AMA?
AMA?
Have you experienced any side effects, even mild like injection pain or fatigue? I'm in the Moderna study and feel pretty disappointed that I may have gotten the placebo.
Double blinded placebo controls are critical to clinical trials so you shouldn’t be disappointed one way or the other. Even if you are in the control group you’ll have the opportunity to get the vaccine after you’ve helped prove its efficacy and safety.
But what happens if a vaccine gets approved while you’re in a trial and not sure if you got the placebo? Well, you can drop out and just get the approved vaccine.
Of course that will trash the original trial you were in.
After the second jab, I had no side-effects.
It's been quite a few months now since my first jab and I have no long-term effects whatsoever.
The control for Moderna is just saline, which is why I'm fairly certain I got it. No side effects whatsoever, not even soreness.
That's currently due for March 2021, but things change quickly.
How often are your follow-ups?
Mild fever for 48 hours that meant I was too tired to exercise, but I was more than fine to work. (I'm a software engineer. I think if I had a more manual job, I would've struggled!)
My follow-ups are every 2 months at a local hospital. They take general observations, ask about side effects and take a small blood sample (presumably to test for antibodies)
So the side-effects I had could be due to that vaccine, I don't know.
Yes, in theory it would make me test positive for an antigen test. So I'm barred from donating blood as my sample would show as positive for COVID-19 antibodies.
Wow, if they're insisting on COVID-19-antibody-free blood for donations that's going to cause problems as a greater percentage of the population gains antibodies to it. I guess they'll have to change to a specific test for current infection.
This is a rule only for those in the trial. If I donate blood today, having had the vaccine, and the blood donation service checks my blood for antibodies and informs me that I had COVID-19 (or so they think!), then I will have been unblinded in the trial which isn't allowed.
This isn't the case for the general population. I'm also not allowed to take part in any other antibody tests that might accidentally unblind me in the trial.
I guess I'm risking it because someone has to. Vaccine trials are incredibly safe and highly regulated. In reality, the worst-case was that it didn't work rather than my head exploding.
But it is just a piece of paper that the team printed out, and I think I lost it.
loses the single most important medical document that's going to save his life
The likelihood of it being of diagnostic usage is pretty low anyway. A vaccine is highly unlikely to cause the sort of reaction that means I won't be conscious.
It's worth pointing out that during a pandemic, while participating in a trial does carry a risk, so does not participating. A participant has some substantially greater probability* than the general population of avoiding an infection which apparently carries a risk of death or long term debilitating effects.
* You'll have to incorporate the probability of being in the control group, of course, but the overall probability is still significant.
Participating also carries risks beyond simply that of the vaccine. Being exposed to any kind of healthcare setting is extremely dangerous right now. I'm taking part in the Moderna trial, and honestly I'm considering dropping out before the second injection. The risk of going into a clinic multiple times where I hear people coughing all over the place is starting to seem unacceptable to me given that I'm fairly certain I've been given the placebo.
My life can begin to go back to normal potentially months before it otherwise would.
Howso? Socialization is a multi-party dynamic. Folks might not care/believe you if you state 'I'm vaccinated' until it's widely accepted.
You'd have to ask my friends. But they're all more interested and curious than suspicious!
It's interesting because that's, not once, ever been a concern. If people don't want to spend time with me until vaccination is more widespread, then that's fine. But the intersection between those who don't trust that I've been vaccinated and those who don't trust vaccination anyway is probably pretty large...
It's a risk tradeoff, different between the phases. I'd probably volunteer for a phase 3 trial if one was available in my area. Phase 1 would be a bit too hot for me.
I wasn't interested in Phase I. My trial is Phase II/III. I was by no means the first to be vaccinated. Any major, common, reactions had already been pretty safely discounted.