Inside J&J Coronavirus Vaccine Study: New Orleans Reporter Details ‘Guinea Pig’ Experience | Corona virus

Two days after Hurricane Zeta passed through New Orleans, I searched the dark corridors of a private medical research lab in Metairie for an appointment that couldn’t be canceled.

The power was still cut, but the study of vaccines had to continue. Guided by the dim light filtering through a window, a nurse stuck a needle into my left arm and drew blood.

She took enough to fill two dark red vials. They have been my small contribution to medical science, a multinational conglomerate, and hopefully the end of the coronavirus pandemic.

Since October 1, I have participated in a study of 44,000 people on a COVID-19 vaccine developed by Johnson & Johnson and the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. The company announced on Friday that the vaccine was 66% effective in preventing moderate to severe illness.

The study results were good news for anyone who has followed America’s Shambolic vaccination campaign. Two safe and highly effective vaccines have already been urgently approved, but the United States is struggling to administer vaccines. Having a third vaccine should help, especially since the Johnson & Johnson vaccine only requires one vaccine and does not need to be stored in special ultra-cold freezers.

That’s more than anyone could have hoped for last summer. At the time, it was already clear that the pandemic would be more than a short-term crisis. New Orleans made heroic sacrifices and suffered horrific losses in the spring, but people elsewhere still seemed to think the virus would never reach them.

I have been frustrated by the country’s response, saddened by the human toll of the pandemic and demoralized at being cut off from my friends and family.

So I started to think about joining a study. In a time of general helplessness, I felt like I could do something to regain some energy from the virus.

I was also fascinated by the science behind COVID-19 vaccines. I began to read the early stage vaccine studies.

While two vaccines that have been shown to be safe and effective have since been approved in the United States, at the time all of the candidates appeared to have their pros and cons. This reinforced a factor that absolutely did not play a role in my decision: money. Although each study hands out money – $ 120 per visit in the case of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine – that doesn’t seem like enough to offset the risk of a rare reaction.

Fortunately, several vaccine candidates had already gone through Phase I and II trials, where scientists are performing initial safety testing.

The Johnson & Johnson shot uses a modified cold virus to produce a strong immune response, according to a draft study since published in the New England Journal of Medicine. In July, European regulators approved an Ebola vaccine based on the same platform.

The day after filling out an online form, someone from Metairie’s research lab called me to make an appointment. I went to the clinic early October 1, thinking I was just being evaluated.

Things went a little faster than that. I spoke to a doctor about the risks. I read documents and signed them. After about an hour, a nurse stuck a needle in my arm.

She didn’t know if I was getting the real stuff or a placebo. Neither do I.

For the next 30 minutes, I sat on a couch in a waiting room. The lab workers went to see if I was having a severe allergic reaction. I checked my phone. Then it was time to go, with an envelope stuffed with $ 120 in cash.

The most painful part of the whole process was getting one of the infamous ‘brain-tickler’ coronavirus swabs deep into my nose.

That night, I didn’t feel any fever or chills. My arm has never been painful. After a difficult week, I told myself that I was in the clear. I’m still not sure for sure, but since there weren’t any side effects, I strongly suspect that I got salt water instead of the real thing.

I have since returned to the lab for two follow-up visits. Both times the nurses took my blood to test for the presence of anti-coronavirus antibodies.

The dimly-lit post-storm monitoring visit, which was frantically postponed from October 29 to October 30 to meet the study’s strict timeline, illustrated the overlapping disasters that made 2020 an unforgettable year in southern Louisiana.

Besides the in-person visits, my participation was to answer a single question on a smartphone application every Monday and Thursday. The question is always the same: do I have symptoms of COVID-19? – and the answer has always been no. So far.

The strangest part of being a vaccinated guinea pig is that you don’t do much at all. In fact, I work against the grain with researchers. My main value to them is the chance that I get sick, but I do my best to avoid this outcome.

I have been following all the studies closely and am happy that the first results of mine are finally available. The study is expected to last two years to see how long the immunity lasts, which is a critical question for the future.

But I hope Johnson & Johnson will take after Moderna and Pfizer and quickly “unravel” their study, so that participants know if they received the genuine article, and in due course offer the vaccine to participants who received the placebo. .

The company could present its plans to lift the study’s admission next week, when it files an emergency use request with the FDA.