One week ago, I became a trial participant in a Phase 3 COVID19 vaccine study, and got a shot in my arm. There is a 50/50 chance that I either got the test vaccine or placebo.
I am testing the Johnson & Johnson/Janssen Pharmaceuticals vaccine candidate. The basis of their vaccine is significantly different from the two vaccines that you hear the most about in the news, the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines. If you are interested in the top 5 major U.S. vaccine candidates, a nice, very succinct summary of them can be read here:
https://labblog.uofmhealth.org/rounds/top-5-covid-19-vaccine-candidates-explained
I signed up to be a test candidate way back in April or so. At that time, I was pretty freaked out by the virus. We didn’t know how deadly it was or wasn’t. I figured that a 50/50 chance that I might get a vaccine that might save my life was better than nothing.
The reason that it took so long for me to get a call-back is because J&J has just now started Phase 3 with volunteers who are over 60, which is me.
The J&J vaccine only uses a single shot. I got a nice little monetary compensation, but that’s not why I enrolled.
I have to fill out a one-question questionnaire twice a week. The question is “do you have signs of COVID19”. I have to return to the clinic five times in the next year for blood draws and physicals. Each time, I get compensated. I think the study continues for another year after that.
Last Sunday was a combination of Visit 1 and Visit 2. Visit 1 is screening, and Visit 2 is the administration of the shot. It was supposed to take about 3-1/2 hours, but the clinic was short-staffed, and they had some computer problems, so I was there for about 5 hours. During which I was injected, inspected, detected, infected, neglected and selected (bonus points to everyone who gets that). Actually, it was mostly just waiting around. The only unpleasantness was that I was given a nasal swab, in order to make sure that I didn’t already have the virus. The swab was “only” inserted about an inch in each nostril. Maybe I’m somehow susceptible, but it felt like I’d been punched in the face for about 5 minutes. Some of the other nasal swab tests go 2-1/2” in. I told the clinic person that I’d have to be anaesthetized before getting one of those. In any case, not having to get a nasal swab is one more reason that you should try to avoid getting the virus.
I had pretty much absolute zero reaction to the shot that I received. This leads me to believe that I received placebo. The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines commonly cause well-publicized reactions. However, the J&J vaccine is a different technology, and I don’t know if it typically causes a reaction or not. So, I really don’t know what I got.
Anyone else out there in a Phase 3 COVID19 vacine study?
I am testing the Johnson & Johnson/Janssen Pharmaceuticals vaccine candidate. The basis of their vaccine is significantly different from the two vaccines that you hear the most about in the news, the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines. If you are interested in the top 5 major U.S. vaccine candidates, a nice, very succinct summary of them can be read here:
https://labblog.uofmhealth.org/rounds/top-5-covid-19-vaccine-candidates-explained
I signed up to be a test candidate way back in April or so. At that time, I was pretty freaked out by the virus. We didn’t know how deadly it was or wasn’t. I figured that a 50/50 chance that I might get a vaccine that might save my life was better than nothing.
The reason that it took so long for me to get a call-back is because J&J has just now started Phase 3 with volunteers who are over 60, which is me.
The J&J vaccine only uses a single shot. I got a nice little monetary compensation, but that’s not why I enrolled.
I have to fill out a one-question questionnaire twice a week. The question is “do you have signs of COVID19”. I have to return to the clinic five times in the next year for blood draws and physicals. Each time, I get compensated. I think the study continues for another year after that.
Last Sunday was a combination of Visit 1 and Visit 2. Visit 1 is screening, and Visit 2 is the administration of the shot. It was supposed to take about 3-1/2 hours, but the clinic was short-staffed, and they had some computer problems, so I was there for about 5 hours. During which I was injected, inspected, detected, infected, neglected and selected (bonus points to everyone who gets that). Actually, it was mostly just waiting around. The only unpleasantness was that I was given a nasal swab, in order to make sure that I didn’t already have the virus. The swab was “only” inserted about an inch in each nostril. Maybe I’m somehow susceptible, but it felt like I’d been punched in the face for about 5 minutes. Some of the other nasal swab tests go 2-1/2” in. I told the clinic person that I’d have to be anaesthetized before getting one of those. In any case, not having to get a nasal swab is one more reason that you should try to avoid getting the virus.
I had pretty much absolute zero reaction to the shot that I received. This leads me to believe that I received placebo. The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines commonly cause well-publicized reactions. However, the J&J vaccine is a different technology, and I don’t know if it typically causes a reaction or not. So, I really don’t know what I got.
Anyone else out there in a Phase 3 COVID19 vacine study?