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On the one hand, those who do not hide their hostility towards the future vaccine against Covid-19, on the other, those who do not hesitate for a moment to volunteer to help scientific research. Here is the moving testimony of a Covid Warrior, Leila, AFP journalist. Free her doubts, her voluntary commitment to test the vaccine that will save billions of lives and the story of this day, for her, historic but at the same time ordinary in a time that is not really. Without these anonymous heroes, there is no treatment or salvation for our humanity.
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[EN VIDÉO] Moderna announces more than 94.5% effective coronavirus vaccine! The mRNA-1273 vaccine from American pharmaceutical company Moderna is 94.5 percent effective according to a press release. Another advantage is that it can be stored for up to 30 days in the refrigerator.
One of the crucial elements in the frantic race for a vaccine against the coronavirus, is the recruitment of tens of thousands of people ready to participate clinical tests. AFP Miami correspondent Leila Macor is one of them. Leila participated in the phase 3 tests of Moderna, the biotechnology American who announced on Monday that she experimental vaccine against the COVID-19 it was nearly 95% effective.
Why this reporter, who is he asthmatic, did you decide to try? Here he tells firsthand about his experience that began a few weeks after his father’s death virus.
A story in two doses
My father died of Covid in Chile, three weeks before clinical trials with Pfizer and Moderna began at the end of July. He died alone, as did the people who succumb to this virus. So alone, that in his delirium, he was convinced that he had been kidnapped. While my siblings, my mother and I tried to cope with the loss, I had to face another reality: Miami and Florida in general they were the new ones epicenter of the virus that killed my father. And my job was also to cover this story and the other deaths.
The idea of doing anything, however small, to help overcome this plague that was killing our people and disrupting our lives was enough. cathartic for me to try. I have talked about it to friends and family. They all helped me conclude that the risk of a potential side effect of vaccine for an asthmatic like me the risk of getting sick from the virus would be lower than mine. And I decided to participate. Two days after writing a story for AFP about starting phase 3 clinical trials in Florida, I hit the mark again. door from the center, but this time as an object of study.
Super hero even with a placebo
The Research centers of America in Hollywood (north of Miami), he participated Pfizer tests and Modern. One day one, one day the other. I went there on a Tuesday: it was Moderna. At the same time, dozens of other centers in the country were also recruiting volunteers. Anyone could apply, as long as the chances of getting infected were high: doctors, taxi drivers … journalists.
I was put a sticker with my name on it and taken to an office, where I was told what I would later read in a 22 page document: that there were two doses, that we would be paid $ 2,400 during the trial period of two years. I was told what side effects to expect (ache where will i get the injection, temperature, chills). That we were 30,000, divided into two groups: one half would receive the vaccine, the other half placebo.
You are helping humanity, whatever your group
” We also don’t know which is which “The nurse told me when I tried to find out if I was going to get a placebo. Only Moderna will know when it’s time to analyze the data.
” What if you get tested antibody ? I asked. It won’t necessarily give a correct result, he replied. “ Uncertainty will kill me! I exclaimed.
The nurse then raised the eyes, telling me very seriously: ” Placebos are as important as vaccines. Cannot test without control group. You are helping humanity, whatever your group “. I felt guilty, obsessed with it, and stopped asking the question.
Ordinary Tuesday vs Historic day
They also took blood samples from me to fill six or eight tubes, I lost count. I have created a file pregnancy test. And they were very steadfast in taking contraceptives when needed: ” The effect of the vaccine on the fetus is not yet known. I’ve been told several times. Then came two people with the vaccine in a cooler. Or the placebo, then. They laughed when I asked them to take a picture of the injection for me.
What was a historic moment for me was just a normal Tuesday for them. It wasn’t painful. I was then taken to a waiting room where I was kept under observation for half an hour. Three or four volunteers were looking at their phones. A Cuban nurse wore a cloak, Superman’s red cloak.
” Why the cloak? I asked him. ” Because we are all heroes here, my dear She told me.
I was given several stickers, a shirt and a mask, all with the message Covid Warriors (Covid Warriors) and a drawing showing a superhero fighting the virus. I was also made to download a file application designed for the studio where I have to report my temperature occasionally symptoms.
We are all heroes here, my dear
When I got home, the injection site hurt a little. Was I given the vaccine? I spent the next three days watching Internet if an injection of serum physiological (which is placebo) could cause pain. Without finding a clear answer. The second dose was given to me a month later, in mid-September. This time the pain was more severe and the injection site remained warm and swollen for two days.
A few days later, I realized that participating in the clinical trial had been a way to do my job mourning. For my father and the crazy world the virus has left us. Small as it was, it was the only weapon I could wield. Leila Macor
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