Moderna coronavirus vaccine trial volunteer details experience: Nothing to fear but minor side effects
After Pfizer's positive COVID-19 vaccine trial results, experts are looking forward to Moderna's trial
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A Moderna coronavirus vaccine trial volunteer from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill shared his experience with "Fox & Friends" Friday, urging everyone to get it to save lives and return to normalcy before COVID-19 restrictions.
Following Pfizer's promising trial results showing 90% effectiveness, experts are looking forward to the results of Moderna's late-stage trial, which had 30,000 participants, in the coming days.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Jack Morningstar said he "saw it as an opportunity to do my part to provide a good data point in the study," along with friends.
"As a tech-savvy person I've become aware of a lot of the misinformation that's being spread online about some of these vaccines and its process, and I'd just like to emphasize that I don't think now's the time to be fearmongering about vaccines," Morningstar said.
"I don't think we should be fearful about a low-grade fever and little bit of arm pain," he said. "That's nothing."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}MODERNA WILL HAVE 20M CORONAVIRUS VACCINES READY BY YEAR'S END
"But what we should be fearful of," he added, "is a death tally of 240,000 that's currently spiking at a terrifying rate at that, and we should be fearful for the thousands of people across the country who are hospitalized and intubated. We should be fearful for American society and the havoc that COVID's wreaked on it."
The college student chose to participate, getting an initial dose and a booster some 27 days later, after looking at trial data from the first and second phases that suggested the vaccine was "safe enough" and "triggered a significant immune response, so I was hopeful that it would actually work."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Because the trial is double-blind, he is not sure if he got the placebo or the Moderna vaccine and is still waiting to see if he has antibodies until the company officially files for the Emergency Use Authorization.
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"I did experience some side effects after the first injection. I was a little bit fatigued and after the booster, I had a fever the next day but I was able to shake that with a couple Ibuprofens, and there was some pain at the injection site, which I'm told is similar to what people experienced with the shingles vaccine," Morningstar said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Because he had the fever, he was tested for the coronavirus twice and came back negative and said there's been no indication he's been sick nor does he think he has been exposed to anyone who is.
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The student urges others to get a vaccine if possible.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I do think that if you get the opportunity, whether it be a clinical trial or once it becomes publicly available, I would encourage everyone to do so because it will ultimately save lives and also help us establish some of the normalcy that COVID robbed from us."