first Pfizer vaccine dose!

Yesterday, I officially shed my membership in the placebo group of the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine Phase III trial and became part of the vaccine group.

Yay!

There was a blood draw first, so they can check to see if I already have antibodies, which is unlikely given my personal history, and can compare it to my bloodwork from earlier in the trial after my placebo shots. There was also a COVID test to see if I have an active infection, which is also unlikely because I have no symptoms and community spread is quite low in our area at the moment.

While I was waiting for thirty minutes for the vaccine to come up to room temperature and for thirty minutes after injection to make sure I didn’t have an adverse reaction, I was able to get some family business done. With spouse B and daughter T’s consent, I was able to pick up their vaccine cards, showing the dates back in August when they received their immunizations. Although we had long suspected that they had received the vaccine and I had received the placebo, we are happy to have the confirmation – and the documentation to prove it. As a higher proportion of the population gets vaccinated, we may need to be able to prove our vaccination status for accessing public transportation, employment, visiting privileges with Paco in his senior community, etc.

The Biden administration is working to get more Pfizer and Moderna vaccine doses out to the states for distribution and the United States may soon have a third vaccine receive emergency use authorization. If approved, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine would be a big help in getting more people vaccinated in more locations around the world more quickly. It is administered as a single dose and can be stored at regular refrigerator temperatures, making it much easier to distribute than the current mRNA vaccines which need very cold storage and two doses. The J&J vaccine will be much easier to get to rural folks and places that don’t have good access to public transportation and medical centers.

The more vaccine available and the more people vaccinated, the sooner we have hope to end the pandemic. This needs to happen everywhere around the world, though, for the pandemic to end. There have to be so few people that are susceptible to the virus that it can’t find enough hosts to continue spreading in the community. Until that point is reached, people will still need to be careful about masking, distancing, and hygiene.

We also need to be vigilant about virus variants and the length of time immunity lasts after infection or immunization. That’s why I’m proud to be able to play my small part in the fight by participating in the Pfizer trial. The data from this latest batch of former placebo group members will show if the vaccine remains effective against the new variants in circulation and add to the statistics of how long immunity lasts as we will be followed for at least another eighteen to twenty-four months.

Today, I have a sore arm and a bit of a headache, both expected side effects from a first dose. It’s a very small price to pay for the beginning of personal protection and the advance of science to help the world understand and defeat COVID-19.

progress for Pfizer

Today is an important day for the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine.

In the United Kingdom, the first doses are being given, predominantly to those over the age of eighty. The recipients will need a second dose in three weeks.

In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration has published a 53-page review of the Pfizer/BioNTech data and confirmed the findings of safety and 95% efficacy. This clears the way for a public hearing on Thursday and possible emergency use authorization within days. Distribution will start within 24 hours of approval.

It is good that so much of the data is now public because you can see that the vaccine is safe and effective across different age, racial, and comorbidity groups. There is also evidence that some protection develops from the first of the two doses, although the highest level of protection begins about a week after the second dose.

As a Pfizer trial participant, I expect to hear back from the researchers shortly after the approval goes through. Pfizer plans to offer the vaccine to people in the placebo group in order to continue their long-term study on efficacy and safety. Among our family in the study, we expect that we have two who have already received two doses of the vaccine and one who is in the placebo group.

I can assure you that the suspected placebo person is anxious to join the vaccine group as soon as possible!