Jennifer Riggins is participating in the Oxford Vaccine Trial. She’s an American technology journalist and marketer who’s self-employed in London — and she’s also agreed to answer some questions from Slashdot!
Slashdot: Can you give me any details on what it’s like when you go in for your shots? (Like, are they somber, or enthusiastic…?) Do you chat at all? Do they know you by name?
JR: For sure they know me by name, at least after glancing at charts or if I call the hotline. The doctors and nurses don’t know which dose I got — this COVID vaccine or the placebo which is the meningitis vaccine. It’s their job to make me feel comfortable so I stay volunteering and they can get as much info from me (like about reactions) as they can.
It’s actually a lot of fun for me. I love the medical talk and ask loads of questions and they are totally transparent and kind.
Plus working from home with my also full-time-working husband and our three year old during the pandemic, a surprise benefit is a bit of me time including the hour-long walk to hospital each way.
Slashdot: Have you ever made contact with any of the other participants?
JR: Just a nod “hello” here and there. No one I’ve seen chats like me — ha. But also we are kept far apart because, you know, pandemic.
And Jennifer had a lot more to say about her experience, the rewards, the reactions, and the media coverage of it all…
Slashdot: Did you have to meet any special qualifications to participate? JR: The only qualifications were a willingness to volunteer, being within an age range which I think is 18 to 55, no underlying immune conditions, not pregnant or breastfeeding and not shielding anyone else who is at risk.I got bloods and vitals taken at pre-check, including serology to make sure I haven’t had COVID-19 already. Then a week later I had bloods and temperature checked again and I got a vaccine. (The people preparing the vaccines are in a different room and are the only people to know which one.) Then four weeks later I had another blood test and temperature check. In eight weeks I will again.
Slashdot: I’ve heard that it requires a 12-month commitment, with anywhere from 6 to 12 visits. Do you get just one shot of the vaccine, and then swing by for follow-up tests — or are there injections in more than one visit?
JR: Every week — maybe for the full year — I also have to take the swab test to check if I have the virus, which I do at home and mail in, registering online for results. I get those results texted to me in less than 48 hours.
In the next month I believe I will get the booster shot — of whichever dose I was given before.
It’s all voluntary so I can refuse or drop out at any time but don’t plan to.
Slashdot: Can you tell me if there’s anything special you have to do while participating? (I understand some participants were given a diary to complete.) Do they still let you drink alcohol or other day-to-day activities? Are there restrictions if you wanted to leave the country?
JR:
The only rules are that for a year from vaccine I cannot donate blood and I must use contraception to avoid pregnancy. Also if I have any coronavirus symptoms, I am to call the hotline and they will come administer a test. I am not allowed to take any COVID tests except those through the clinical trial for a year. I did give them feedback on the minor side effects I had which have subsided.
I have weekly tests, so ideally if I do travel I’ll try to work around them. But it’s voluntary so just doing the best I can should be good enough. And frankly I don’t think I’ll be flying anywhere until there’s an actual approved vaccine widely distributed anyway.
Slashdot: Are there any risks in participating — and have you ever been tempted to stop participating?
JR: I’ve never had a second thought. It’s Phase III not I. By the time I joined it was already deemed lower risk so it’s always been a nothing/potential-win scenario. And I’ve already had the meningitis vaccine before going to college so that wasn’t a risk either.
Now that the results of Phase I have been released and this vaccine is the front runner so far, it is even more exciting, even while there’s only a 50 percent chance I got the Covid vaccine. I won’t find out which I had supposedly until 12 months from receiving the first dose. It could change as the research and everything about the trial is evolving more rapidly but I’ve no expectations before that.
Slashdot: This week Wired argued a vaccine with minor side effects “could still be pretty bad.” What’s your reaction when reading articles like that?
JR: I think the article is a poorly written, poorly researched opinion piece. It says offering acetaminophen or paracetamol is unusual with vaccines. I’m a working mom with a three-year-old, and you are told to give them acetaminophen or paracetamol before all live vaccines as they can cause discomfort and fever for the first 24 to 48 hours.
I’m actually surprised this article was in Wired that tends to be reputable. It seems to be written by a vaccine skeptic at best who knows little about them. This is a dangerous message because we most likely won’t have a widely distributed vaccine til 2021 at earliest. Even longer if you consider, like the chicken pox vaccine, it needs a booster for efficacy. This flu season is going to be awful and then combined with this coronavirus. Add to that less kids are getting vaccinated or at least are delayed during the pandemic. Any antivaxxer message is incredibly dangerous. We won’t be able to have herd immunity for Covid-19 by winter but we could for the flu which will save so many lives.
Slashdot: How do you feel about the way your vaccine trials are being covered in the media?
JR: I think a lot of the U.S. coverage of the Oxford vaccine results has been oddly more optimistic than in European coverage — probably to do with the upcoming election. I think there’s reason for optimism but do encourage people to always read the academic research.
Besides the actual published academic papers, I find these two sources the most accurate, unbiased and up to date:
The New York Times Coronavirus Vaccine Tracker
And for understanding the lingo of vaccines and where we are, Axio’s recent piece “State of the Global Race for a Coronavirus Vaccine.”
Slashdot: So what happens when you tell people you’re participating in the vaccine trial?
JR: People are excited! Seriously grateful.
I worry people — especially Americans — are hinging their lives on the promise of a vaccine in the Fall. This is dangerous and essentially impossible. Now is not the time to go back to normal. It’s the time to stay distant and wear a mask. It sucks how few are wearing masks in central London even while now it’s finally enforced. Don’t be selfish.
Slashdot: Do you have a message for the bystanders wishing you success?
JR: I just want to make a note about volunteering for the trial. At least in the UK and US, there is a lack of non-white volunteers for clinical trials. People of color and especially Black people have been systematically excluded from equal and safe access to healthcare systems — made blatant across the board including maternal mortality rates, diabetic amputee rates, and this pandemic, to name a few. I understand these excluded have valid reasons to not trust these healthcare systems and to not participate in clinical trials, so I’m not going to try to compel anyone to volunteer. I just wanted to note that there is a shortage of Black American and Black British volunteers in clinical trials. And in this pandemic where Black outcomes are direly worse — due to systemic inequity and unequal treatment and bias from healthcare providers — I am scared at a lack of diversity in vaccine trial participants. I am worried that a lot of demographics and health conditions are not being included.
To everyone, there are over a hundred vaccine trials happening right now in the U.S. and around the world. They all need volunteers. If you or someone you are caring for isn’t shielding someone else who is at risk, you should really consider volunteering. This is a global battle and we need global citizens involved. Plus it’s easy to participate.
Most crucially, we all have to prioritize science right now.read more
Slashdot Interviews an Oxford Vaccine Trial Participant
