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Dr Maria Raven’s morning started a little differently on Thursday.
Instead of immediately jumping into a regular day at University of California-San Francisco Moffitt Long emergency room, she stood in a socially distant line to get her first dose of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine. As Raven eagerly waited for her name to be called out to enter the Inoculation Zone, a classroom, she chatted with colleagues about how exciting it was that this day had finally arrived. Twenty minutes later, Raven’s name was called out.
“Then they write your name on a whiteboard, they ask our pharmacy students to administer the vaccine, so that was pretty cool,” Raven said. “And they just ask you to roll up your sleeve and they give it to you.”
Another person immediately noted the time on the whiteboard as soon as the student administered the vaccine. For the next 15 minutes, they watched Raven in case she had an immediate allergic reaction. A healthcare worker in Alaska had an anaphylactic reaction that required an overnight stay in hospital this week, similar to what happened with two healthcare workers in Britain last week. A second worker in Alaska experienced puffiness and dizziness in the eyes within 10 minutes; fortunately, this reaction was not considered anaphylaxis. Pfizer’s trial found no serious adverse events caused by the vaccine.
Raven was not scared during the 15 minute monitoring period. Instead, she felt “excitement” and “relief”.
“The mere idea that we’re going to be immune is a game changer,” Raven said. “It’s a huge morale booster.”
Raven has received one of 2.9 million doses that will be delivered to more than 1,000 locations by the end of the weekend.
At UCSF, a random lottery this week alerted frontline workers who would be the first to be vaccinated. Raven received an invitation to make an appointment herself on Sunday. Frontline workers were only notified this week because the Pfizer vaccine has a shorter shelf life of five days after being transferred from ultra-cold storage to a refrigerator due to its mRNa content ( Synthetic messenger RNA). Raven was surprised to receive the notification. At first, she was unaware that only 975 workers would receive it in the first round of deployment.
The Pfizer vaccine is given in a series of two doses, which means Raven is not yet fully protected against the coronavirus. And since she only received the first dose, she left the vaccination site with a pink stick with a number “1” to refer to her status as the first dose recipient.
In three weeks, Raven will receive the second dose. A week later, according to the FDA, she will likely be immune to the coronavirus.
As Salon explained previously, the Pfizer vaccine is a relatively new technology, but a leap forward for biotechnology. When a person receives the first Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine, a tailored version of mRNA is injected into the body, which causes cells to make proteins to recognize SARS-CoV-2 Spike. Ultimately, these proteins train the immune system to fight COVID-19. A second dose is like a booster.
According to studies from Pfizer’s clinical trials, there were very few side effects after the first dose. About a quarter of people after the second dose experience very subtle symptoms.
“It seems like about a quarter to a third of people have had headaches, muscle aches or fever, symptoms that we sometimes think of as mimicking some aspect of a viral illness, and that’s your body. that develops its immune response, ”Raven told me. “It may require you to take a day off, but you kind of know what it is and so it’s not much more than that and would only be symptomatic treatment.”
Raven felt great after her first dose and went back to business as usual during her day.
Pfizer predicts that 25 million doses will be available by the end of the month, just enough to cover the estimated 21 million healthcare workers and 3 million long-term care residents across the country. The Moderna vaccine, which is biologically similar to Pfizer’s, is also expected to be approved by the FDA this week. The main difference between the two is that Pfizer vaccine should be stored at –70 ° C; Moderna’s vaccine candidate can be stored at –20 ° C and can remain stable for up to one month at refrigerator temperature. The second dose of Pfizer comes three weeks after the first; Moderna is four weeks old.
Currently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) does not have an answer on when people can stop wearing masks and social distancing.
“Experts need to better understand the protection provided by COVID-19 vaccines before making this decision,” the CDC says. “Other factors, including the number of people vaccinated and how the virus spreads in communities, will also affect this decision.”
While life will not immediately return to what it was before the pandemic after the vaccination, Raven said receiving the vaccination today is a symbol of hope.
“I think that while that doesn’t immediately change our practice in terms of PPE needs – which is hard to do over a long shift to have an N95, a face shield and all that, and not allow your patients see what you look like and smile – it’s very symbolic that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel, ”said Raven.
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