Making the world a healthier, safer and happier place
We are sure this title got your attention and you can’t wait to see what piece of financial wisdom (or lack thereof) is inspiring us this time. Well in truth, we can’t possibly explain the market right now, so we decided to share a more personal and decidedly more important topic…
As some of you know, Marci and I, along with several of our clients and friends, are participating in the Pfizer Covid 19 vaccine trial. As you have undoubtedly heard, there is plenty of coronavirus here in Georgia. The good news about that is that both Moderna and Pfizer are conducting Phase 3 clinical trials here in Atlanta. We have gotten many questions already about what this is experience is like so we thought we would bring all of you on the journey with us. We will go back to our normally scheduled programming in two weeks…
So what exactly is the trial?
The Pfizer Phase 3 work is a double blind, placebo controlled trial with 30,000 participants in the U.S. What that means is that 15,000 of the participants will get the actual trial vaccine and the other half will get a saline (saltwater) injection. No one involved in the trial, including the doctors, the clinical staff or us, knows which we got/will get. There are two identical injections required and they are delivered about three weeks apart. This vaccine has successfully completed Phase 1 and Phase 2 trials which showed the vaccine to be generally well-tolerated and with an ability to generate some antibodies which will hopefully fight the disease. The purpose of the Phase 3 trial is to confirm the findings of Phase 1 and Phase 2 and hopefully prove that this vaccine actually works! As you know, there is no component of the Covid virus in this vaccine candidate.
How did the application process work?
This has been the most surprising part so far. We saw an advertisement for the trial on Facebook and completed a simple form with a name and email address. The next day, the clinical lab called and asked a few more questions – demographics, pre-existing health conditions and availability to come in the next day for the first injection. I assume we applied early and so there were openings for all demographics – basically everyone “gets in” at the beginning but as the recruiting continues, the criteria will likely get tougher as they need to fill slots in all demographic groups. We couldn’t wait to get started but we did talk to our primary care physicians, just to make sure they were aligned with the idea. As expected, they were absolutely fine with our participation!
What happened when we got the first injections?
Marci and I have both had our initial injections – we started about 10 days apart. The initial appointment was about ½ day. Clinical trials generally are measured in years or decades, not days or weeks so the efficiency of the lab could be improved. As much as we would have liked to take over and fix that, you will be delighted to know that we just laughed off that part. There is definitely a sense of urgency though because the sooner there are jabs in arms, the sooner there will be an answer on the efficacy of this vaccine!
After reading and signing about 50 pages of fine print disclaimers and forms, we got a brief physical, followed by the donation of several vials of blood and a Covid test. Although the Covid test absolutely brushed some cobwebs out of our brains, I continue to assert that if we can each give birth twice, we can handle a swab up our nose.
After that it was time for the vaccine – a bit anti-climactic for sure. After that we had to sit for 30 minutes and be cleared by one of the study doctors before we could leave. The doctors were looking for redness or swelling at the injection site. We didn’t have and neither did anyone else the days we were there. We also downloaded a phone app to track and report any side effects or Covid symptoms. And they paid $150 – which we will be investing of course.
And then what?
We were told that the side effects of the vaccine and the placebo after the first injection were reportedly quite mild in the initial phases. Both of us had the expected sore arms for the first day. The sore arm happens with the actual vaccine and the placebo. Neither of us experienced any other side effects. Again that could be because we got the actual vaccine and didn’t have any side effects OR because we got the saline injection. We obviously don’t know. We would have loved to wake up on Day 2 with a little fever to give us a hint that we got the real vaccine of course! Side effects are reportedly a little more common after the second dose but we will see.
How long the trial lasts depends on many variables but we will keep you posted. We are thrilled to be able to do our small part to make the world a healthier, safer and happier place! And we also want to see our parents and our kids, as we know many of you do!
Lori and Marci